Chapter 103 – Masquerade Party (17)

Rumble—

Rumble—

“Do you think he made it in?”

“Dunno. I couldn’t see him go inside in the first place. I have been watching ever since the car exploded too…”

While Vex was infiltrating the Raptor’s formation, Gyosu and Ian met up at an armored car parked at a risky distance and spectated the situation from afar.

As the Dome’s railguns started to spur into activity, the earth and air shook from the powerful sounds of collisions.

A one-sided battle, thanks to the city’s defense system. The battlefield felt almost peaceful considering its normal nature.

In just 3 minutes, 5 if the city didn’t have any spare power on hand, this battle would be their victory. But why? Why does he feel so uneasy?

‘They’ve stopped retreating. The T-7 tank can’t travel over obstacles even though it’s a tracked vehicle. Even if the Raptors decide to take damage into consideration and send out their infantry and their miniguns, the power transmitters are already close enough that the Exosuits don’t need to worry about their shields turning off.’

“What’s making you frown like that this time? We already won, didn’t we?”

“Yeah. We’ve won. In just a few minutes, a massive cannon straight out of a sci-fi movie is going to blow them to pieces. But… something’s feeling off.”

From afar, a battlefield is similar to a chess game, and the current situation feels like the opponent just made their move while he was looking away. They definitely did something, but he didn’t know what.

They blocked the opponent’s move with Old Picture.

And by blocking the retreat of the Raptors and closing in on them with the electromagnetic net, they neutralized the tanks that were firing at the Exosuits and could pressure them into taking damage. Not only were they free from the cannons, but with the city’s continuous supply of power, the enemy’s infantry was in a situation where they faced a nearly invincible Exosuit squad.

They won in every single way. Comparing it to chess, they caught all of the enemy’s rooks and knights and were just about to call checkmate.

But the opponent was still smiling. Just because they didn’t know the reason for their first move that led them to this checkmate; the reason why they retreated.

‘Hyde. Are you still sleeping? Hyde?’

[…]

‘Never there when I need you, huh.’

Anxiety meant that something I knew about was making me feel nervous. What is it? What is it that I missed?

“The retreat… Wasn’t it a little too quick?”

“Huh?”

“Those guys retreated right after they announced war. Even before the electromagnetic net activated. If a cluster of that many vehicles wants to move together at that speed, then it means that this was planned out beforehand.”

The Raptors lose when time passes. Since the main cannon will get charged.

Retreat is dragging out that time. They planned to drag out the time even before the battle started.

Conclusion. The Raptors… don’t care about the main cannon?

“…No way.”

“Why? Did you figure something out?”

“Nahhhhh… no way. They wouldn’t go that far. Nope. They wouldn’t have. Mhm!”

The more Gyosu continued, the more uneasiness spread into Ian’s expression as well. That was only natural, as unlike what Gyosu was saying, his expression was changing from confusion to shock to fear.

No matter how he thought about it, when he thought about the situation from the Raptor’s perspective, there was only one way they could use retreating as a method to change this one-sided battlefield to their advantage.

And if his prediction was correct, then something was going to happen before the main cannon completed charging.

The change in the battlefield could be sensed through the ears before the eyes.

The battlefield was always full of at least some sort of sound. Whether that was the explosions of falling mortars and bullets, pained screams, or desperate cries…

But if that battle was happening near the Dome’s city, those sounds would have shrunk dramatically.

Pshwoo—

Sounds of railgun shots flying at the speed of sound, using acceleration through electricity rather than gunpowder.

P-p-p-p-p-t! P-p-p-pt! P-p-pp-t!

The Exosuit’s lethal yet quiet pops from their attached electromagnetic rifles.

Pwoot, pwooot!

And the sounds of the Raptor’s tank bullets getting stopped in midair by the Speed Bump’s net.

And so at some point, in a battlefield full of just the sounds of the Dome’s modern technology and firepower, the ear-ripping sounds of explosions slowly started to increase, one by one.

Banggggg!

Massive explosions and debris that could be seen clearly even at a distance, and Exosuits torn up into pieces and flying apart as they took direct hits from them.

Grrind!

Gyosu gritted his teeth at his own stupidity. He could have thought of it if he had thought just a little more. How could he have just ignored it under the excuse that he was busy and that he was still recovering?

[Alright. Squadron 3, leave the supplies where they are and head back into the Dome. Protect the central generator at all costs! If the Executive Department is behind this, then they might have already started to move!]

[Roger that, sir!]

Before setting Old Picture free, he heard the Investigation Bureau manager say that through the comms. They dispatched one squad armed with Exosuits. They thought that there was no way an Exosuit unit with full batteries could lose, especially inside the Dome, and Mr. Ralph probably also thought the same and forgot about it after dispatching Squad 3…

‘What if… they weren’t enough? If those Executive Department bastards managed to get to the central generator and turned off the city’s power…!’

The center of the Dome’s overwhelming power was its almost infinite source of energy when near the city. So the central generator was protected that much more, with all sorts of defense systems and encrypted doors, and currently the Investigation Bureau’s Exosuit squad is defending it on top of that. Unless some sort of unbelievable phenomenon happened, there was no chance that the Dome’s central generator could be messed with.

But if that unbelievable phenomenon actually happened…

“We… lost…”

“What? Can you talk louder, Gyosu? I can’t hear you! They’re suddenly starting to attack stronger…”

“It’s not that they got stronger… They’re starting to make hits on their target because the defense system turned off! The main battlefield wasn’t here to start with!”

Shouting at the top of his lungs over the sound of the explosions, Gyosu turned his head towards the Dome behind their backs.

The sun had already set, with its remaining crimson heat dangling over the horizon, but the Dome’s city was silent, not a single light brightening its buildings.

“It’s the generator! Either the Executive Department or the Raptors, or maybe both! But someone succeeded in getting through the Dome’s defenses and turned off the main generator facility! The railguns, electromagnetic nets, and Exosuit power supply—they’re all off now!”

Grumble—

Rumbleee!

At some point, the sounds of railguns disappeared, and all that was left on the battlefield was the sound of the Raptor’s artillery ripping through the open field.

The Dome lost both their defense and attack systems.

Trusting the Speed Bump, the Exosuit squad had entered deep into the enemy’s battlefield.

And as if going past them, the T-7 tanks at the ends started to crawl backward.

A wall of steel started to surround the Exosuit squad that had lost their invincible shield.

“Hey, wait. If the railguns stopped shooting….”

“Then there’s no need to switch out the tank drivers. Vex. Even if he manages to get in, he’ll get caught at some point if he stays there.”

“If it was according to plan, he needed to drive it out the moment he was switched into the driver’s spot… but he’ll just be trapped here at this point!”

Clank!

And as if that were a signal, Ian immediately picked up his weapons and turned his body.

“I’ll go save him! You go to the generator!”

“Will you be okay alone? In that mess of explosions?”

“…Hack-twu!”

To Gyosu’s question, Ian just took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

“Guess I’ll die if I don’t. I’ll make it out, so you need to start moving out too. The tables are turned if the generator turns back on.”

That means he’s already prepared to die.

‘It’s my fault. My misjudgment put Vex and the three of us in danger!’

Looking at that, Gyosu clenched his fist to the point where his knuckles turned white.

“Don’t blame yourself. You’re not some god. We were the irregulars in this battle in the first place. This situation is just the Dome getting their lazy asses stabbed in the back by the Raptor that’s been preparing for this moment. What I’m saying is, this was all meant to happen.”

And seeing that Gyosu blamed himself, Ian took an assortment of grenades out of his bag and handed it to him.

“Life isn’t a boring game that you win every single time. Besides, we didn’t completely lose, yet right?”

Tap, tap.

Ian extended his hand to his buddy, submerging into guilt, and gave him a half-white and half-silver toothy grin.

“Like always, who knows what’ll happen when we struggle? Right? Mister ‘Miracle Man’. Show us what you’ve got again.”

In front of that smile, his mouth, which was always so good at talking, was unable to push any words out of it. All he could do was take the man’s hand.

“You should remember where I said I put my will.”

“…”

“See you later, whether it’s down here or up there.”

And with his last words, Ian ran towards the battlefield, shuddering with explosions.

Meanwhile, 5 minutes before the Dome’s power went out, Vex was having an incredibly uncomfortable time after successfully infiltrating the Raptor’s formation.

“You… You’re a veteran, aren’t you?”

The place that the official dragged him to was an armored car located toward the back of the T-7 tank, where the unconscious drivers were carried to and dragged out.

To Vex, who was quietly waiting for his turn according to the plan, a short soldier just like him that had been sitting in the corner spoke to him. A voice seemingly wrinkled, and slender wrists. They weren’t young children. It was an old man with a hunched back.

“Do you not feel like talking? Well, I don’t blame you… Not only did you dedicate your youth to the Raptors, but you were flung aside just because you were wounded, and the final destination after barely scraping by doing all sorts of chores and errands is this place.”

‘So they were using not only children, but the elderly, who lost their use as a consumable here.’

Vex just quietly listened to the elderly man’s rant. One was because it would be suspicious for him to let out a voice unlike his appearance, but it was also easy to get his identity exposed if he hastily tried to talk without much information about this place.

The elderly man who had been staring at Vex then approached the child that had just been carried in and brushed away their sweaty hair from their forehead.

“I was also a driver like them once. I served as a volunteer in World War III. Back then, I also thought the same as they did. That is because the world changed, and the laws, people, and their morals had to change with it. I killed people, believing that the world had become too heavy to carry it correctly like we did in the past, and naturally joined the Raptors after the war ended. I believed they were right.”

The old man’s wrinkled hand, which had been petting the child’s head, slowly moved down and closed the child’s eyes. It had been long since the panting of the child faded away.

“This child… had just finished their fifth shift. The impact from those railguns is too brutal for a young child’s body to handle… There’s a limit to how many times I can go out in their stead… My legs can no longer move, and I can’t see well either. The next time will probably be my last. All of this is karma for what I did in my youth. But these children… what did these children do to deserve this?”

Vex prayed that his turn would quickly come. It was difficult to listen to this any longer. No, I need to act according to the plan. I can’t ruin Hepburn’s plan. He’s a hundred times smarter than me, so Hepburn’s plan will be a hundred times better than acting on my judgment…

He tightly squeezed his eyes and turned away, but the image of the old, fragile man embracing the terrified children was etched into the lids of his eyes. The sound of dry skin rubbing together, the sound of whining, the sound of a shaky hand comforting others.

Thunk!

“Next! Come out already!”

To the sound of the tank’s hatch opening, Vex stood up without a moment’s hesitation. At this moment, the irritated face of the Raptor soldier looked like an angel’s.

‘It’s for the plan, it’s for…’

Turning away from the old man and the young drivers, Vex followed the soldier to the tank right in front of the armored car and entered the driver’s pod. A small hole that can be compared to a luggage compartment is located on the lower left side of the massive front vertical armor. He could see why they used people with smaller figures.

Tzzt—

[Start moving if you’re in already! You sluggish rat!]

Pow!

“Urgh!”

He was looking around the unfamiliar seat when he felt a kick come at him from the back of the seat.

‘That must be where the tank commander, gunner, and ammunitioner are riding.’

From the short explanation he heard before he infiltrated this place, the person located behind the driver’s seat should be the gunner, but from how they’re talking, it looks like they switched places with the tank commander.

‘They said they couldn’t hear because of the impact.’

It seemed that in case the child that came into the driver’s seat was unable to hear, they came down here to signal them by kicking them like this.

When he took a moment to glimpse at them, the man was wearing a significantly thicker protection vest, unlike his own simple uniform.

Pow!

[We’re out of formation because of your sluggish ass! Do as you were taught! You don’t need to touch anything, so slowly step on the axel! Speed up and get in line with the others!]

The boot once again collided against his back, and he could hear the tank commander’s orders through the headset on his head.

Gyosu’s plan was to get into the tank and drive it right out of the T-7’s formation. All he had to do now was kill them and escap—

Pow!

[You’re too fast! The line stopped! Damn it, how do they expect us to fight a war with retarded rats like these!]

Clench!

‘So this is where the bruises on the children’s bodies came from.’

He didn’t have a reason to get mad. He was going to kill them all anyway. Taking a few blows like this was a light price to pay compared to their lives.

But Vex was getting very, very mad.

He shouldn’t do this. All he had to do was kill these guys and drive forward. He even prepared a white flag when he changed into this uniform.

[S—ty rats! What could be better than serving as a Raptor soldier at this early age? But all they do is cry! All they do is whin—]

Schlt!

“…No.”

The tank commander, who had been sitting behind the driver’s seat, relieving his stress from the annoying heat of the protection suit and tension from the battle, suddenly felt his leg become cool with the sound of a voice he heard for the first time. As air flowed into the protection suit that was covering his leg, it felt refreshing for his calf.

“Uh… uahhhh! My foot! My foot!!”

But his ankle was starting to feel a searing pain.

[Cough!]

[I-it’s an att—arghh!]

Even before the shock of his severed ankle subsided, cries trickled out of his headset. When he turned his head, drenched in sweat, Vex, who had already killed the gunner and ammunitioner, was holding a knife to his throat.

“P-please sp—”

“It’s not true.”

“Ah… huh?”

“The children… have a much better future than getting kicked around by you bastards in this tiny space.”

“W-what does—”

Schrlt!

Swiftly slitting the throat of the tank commander, Vex let out a sigh of guilt. It wasn’t guilt from killing these pieces of trash, but guilt towards Gyosu, who would need to work out the pain of a mess if things went wrong.

‘Remember, Vex! Speed is essential! After getting inside, get into the driver’s seat, and you have to drive the tank out of formation as fast as possible, then escape! Think that for every second your escape is postponed, you’re losing 1% of your life!’

“If I do something that’s not part of the plan… it might cause problems.”

But unlike what he said, Vex turned his body towards the opposite side of the driver’s seat, where the children, shivering in fear, were waiting.

“Hm? Oi, driver! Return to your position! You don’t need to switch out yet if you can still stan—aghk!”

He was glad that the new knife he received had a sharp blade. Sharp enough to slaughter the soldiers guarding the armored car containing the children and elderly in an instant.

Thunk!

The armored car’s hatch opened, and the moment Vex peered into the entrance, a child leaped out towards him. It was one of the children who was crying next to the old man. As if the sudden exposure to light was too strong after being in the dark vehicle for too long, the child covered their face as they spoke to Vex with a shaky voice.

“I-I’ll g-go! If Grandpa goes anymore… He’ll die!”

“R-Roni! Come back here! I’ll… I’ll g…!”

“Nobody needs to go.”

Huap!

Entering the vehicle through the hatch, Vex gently patted the head of the child who volunteered instead of the elderly man and smiled brightly.

“You still have too much life to live. There’s going to be a lot more fun things in life to do than sit in this small, dark place all day.”

“Y-you’re… that man from…”

“Grandpa. You said you were a tank driver, right?”

“Y-yes I did…”

“I know you can’t see well, and your legs can’t move, but can you drive just one more time?”

“Do you mean the tank?”

“No… this armored car.”

“I-I can’t… There are troops waiting nearby, and even if there aren’t, the other Raptors aren’t just going to sit around and wat—”

“I’ll figure that part out.”

“The armored car… Don’t tell me you…!”

Just then, in the eyes of the elderly man who had been looking at Vex with his blurry eyes, the blood spots splattered across Vex’s uniform came into sight.

“Yes. I’m going to take you and these children out of here.”

Gyosu said that he needed to drive out that big-headed tank. Then, wouldn’t a single armored car still be within calculations?

‘Sorry Hepburn! I wasn’t able to sneak out a tank, and it might take a little longer for me to escape! But I can’t just ignore this!’

Although Vex was a little slow and immature compared to his age, even he had values that he couldn’t compromise.

‘Just like the mister from Squad 14 did. I want to give at least as much as I received!’

Good adults need to protect the children. Even if that was in the middle of a battlefield, even if his life was at stake.

Tzzzzt—

[Attention all front tank crews. The enemy’s power has been cut off. All troops to position. Now that the railguns have stopped, we will not use expendable drivers. Slaughter the enemy at all costs.]

The Raptor’s command flowed through the air and into the ears of the old man, Vex, and the children, who just blinked their eyes blankly as if they couldn’t believe what was happening.

Vex’s sharp ears picked up the engines of the surrounding tanks, which had been moving slowly until now, but were now roaring into action.

“The situation must have changed.”

“It… seems so.”

“Grandpa. You can do it, right?”

“Of course. Of course I will…!”

With arms and legs trembling like branches in a storm, the old soldier managed to raise his body and stand in front of Vex with tears forming in his wrinkled eyes.

“I’ll do it no matter what… if it is the last thing I do with this life…!”

“Then I’ll be counting on you.”

Vex turned away from the old man who was being guided to the driver’s seat with the assistance of the children and came out of the armored car’s hatch. He could see children being carried out of the surrounding tanks and replaced with the actual drivers from Raptor.

“You all are very bad adults.”

Not long after, blood splattered all over the surrounding area of the armored car.