Clang!
I sat in the seat and plugged in my prosthetic leg.
A tingling sensation shot up my spine.
“Ugh!”
“Deep! What’s wrong? You okay?”
“I’m fine!”
BCI system.
I can feel it.
I can feel the Titan’s leg connected through my nerves.
I can feel the roar of the new generator embedded in my thigh.
The drive noise is as clear as a wolf’s growl.
If I raise my eyes, I can see anywhere through the omnidirectional monitor.
It’s far stronger and faster than the leg I lost.
The acceleration starting from electrical signals transmitted through my muscles suits the word “takeoff” better.
But I don’t call it takeoff.
“Aaron!”
“I know, Cheonmin! I’ll watch from above!”
Because there’s someone else who uses that word.
Icarus soared upward, its cannon muzzle aimed below.
There’s a Titan flying in the sky, and I’m diving below.
That’s why I call it a dive.
“Dive.”
“Dive!”
Boom!
The shell fired by Icarus bounced off Daniel’s swinging hand.
A massive arm.
Benjamin of Darka Sinis had an arm like that, but Daniel’s had both arms that massive.
Benjamin?
Count Sinis’s family?
“Icarus! Never stay in the direction of that hand!”
“What? Alright!”
Acceleration.
Accelerating even faster.
The segmented hover devices balanced at multiple angles, and the thrusters angled as if moving through water.
Evading the Gatling muzzles, I fired the shoulder side thrusters.
Left.
Right.
And left again.
The moment I changed direction again and faced Daniel, the armored plates on both his arms opened.
Charged electromagnetic waves discharged with a crackling sound.
“What is that?!”
“Localized EMP!”
Now.
I stopped hovering and used even the thrusters to escape the palm’s direction.
Whoom!
The sound is small.
The aftermath is strong.
“Graaah! It hit the generator dead on!”
The Titans in the palm’s trajectory crumbled down, and Icarus in the sky fell.
“Aaron!”
“I have countermeasures for falling! I have backup power too! You just fight!”
Wing-shaped thrusters fired continuously in different directions.
A thorough short-term decisive-battle Titan that doesn’t spare output.
But enhanced dual generators and compressed fuel make that short-term battle performance last long-term.
The Titan focused on rapid acceleration and rapid deceleration used in the first decisive battle with Icarus.
An enhanced version that even solved the generator overload, its only weakness.
“Aggressive, like a wolf!”
Daniel’s Gatling muzzles turned toward me simultaneously.
Grrrrrr.
The generator roared.
“Deep! I’ll handle the fine-tuning, so don’t worry and just manhandle it!”
“Got it!”
I believe in Aili.
I believe in Aili, who believes in me.
I just need to approach without getting hit even once.
The bullet barrage is only coming from two muzzles.
The limit is set.
Calculate and move.
Those heavy, massive hands can’t possibly move faster than me.
There is no retreat.
Using only acceleration, deceleration, and direction changes, I reverse-calculate the bullet angles and dodge.
“How?”
As I approached, I raised my fingertips and ignited the elbow rocket.
At the same time, Daniel’s Titan reverse-fired the thrusters on its chest.
Just as I had dodged the dagger with reverse thrust, he dodged my claws with reverse thrust.
Kwa-boom!
Daniel broke through the hangar wall and went outside.
In an instant, a new-model Titan blocked the way, only to be crushed and smashed by Icarus.
I pressed the muzzle against the core armor and fired at point-blank range.
Boom!
Even excellent armor is meaningless against a shell at that distance.
“Go, Deep!”
Approaching again.
At the same time, Daniel clutched the hydrogen generator he was holding in his hand.
Boooom!
Vision disappeared with the explosion.
From within, a massive white hand shot out.
A blow that a vision-dependent pilot couldn’t help but take.
“Aili!”
“Go for it!”
Never once had I won a fight using only my eyes.
While reverse-thrusting, I turned off the hover devices, kicked the ground with my feet, and scraped the earth with my hands.
I picked it up.
Pile Bunker.
Nobles like Daniel and commoners like me have something in common.
One hit from a Pile Bunker pierces through either of us.
I equipped the Pile Bunker on my left arm.
From now on, I make no choices I will regret.
I aligned the sight toward the core.
Boom!!!
“Kurk!”
Daniel’s other hand swatted Hati away.
He has elbow rockets too.
The sturdy armor didn’t break immediately, but if the shock accumulates, it could suddenly shatter.
The overwhelming output difference stemming from weight class can’t be ignored.
Daniel raised his head as if in admiration.
“You, you were already firing side thrusters before getting hit. Did you try to land the Pile Bunker while predicting my counter? You must have rolled across the battlefield thousands of times.”
I pulled out the unfired stake and loaded the next one.
“I suppose you really are a cadet.”
“For a reactionary, you certainly ask a lot of questions.”
“Well, I had no intention of hearing the answer. I’m only curious where you hid the Banshee’s generator.”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
White Titans blocked the front.
At the same time, Titans approached from both sides.
“Hey, what is that Titan? Looks flimsy.”
“What’s flimsy?”
“It means it’s flimsy!”
Robert, who wouldn’t let go of the chainsword even in a half-destroyed state.
“…Bit late.”
“Angelos? You’re alive!”
“Don’t go deciding I’m dead on your own.”
Angelos, core armor torn away, pilot fully exposed.
“I shall clear the path, Cheonmin.”
Aaron, having recovered generator output.
Icarus pulled out the two battle axes stuck on its back.
Whoom.
The heat blades glowed red as they heated up.
At the same time, Daniel’s Gatling muzzles began to spin.
“Shield!!!”
With Robert’s shout, a shield flew in from a blind spot.
It was undoubtedly thrown by a clan member of the Space Marine Corps who had looted a Southern Front shield.
Robert’s Titan grabbed the shield and slammed it into the ground.
Ratatatatatat!
Along with the Gatling sound, the shield was dragged across the ground and pushed back.
“Go!!!”
I had already launched before he said it.
Icarus’s shell pierced one new-model Titan.
Angelos accelerated, targeting the gap opened in the battlefield.
“Did you say Deep?”
“Yes.”
“I only have one arm, so help me load.”
I loaded the submachine gun that flew to me and threw it back.
Angelos, having caught the submachine gun, jumped up, stepping on Robert.
Crunch!
Wrapping his legs around the new-model Titan’s neck, he instantly threw it to the ground.
“Let’s see if this one holds up too.”
He pressed the muzzle against the new-model Titan’s head.
Grrrrrrrind!
Sensors and head were ground up as if put through a blender.
Immediately, another new-model Titan grabbed Angelos and pushed him away with raw output before disappearing.
It was in the direction where the Southern Front troops were gathered.
No time to worry.
The moment a new-model Titan accelerated toward me, a battle axe embedded in its head.
“Use it!”
If he tells me to use it, I should.
I grabbed the battle axe handle and pushed it straight down.
With a crunching sound, the axe embedded all the way to the generator.
“Urp.”
Aili tightly covered her mouth.
“Aili, are you okay?!”
“Ahaha, ahaha! So this is what it’s like to ride a Titan as a pilot! I totally love doing what Deep loves together!”
Positivity is good, but I can’t maintain acceleration continuously.
“I’m fine! You can really go harder!”
“Then shall we go in short bursts?”
“Isn’t that a bit risqué?”
Where exactly?
Charging, using the new-model Titan as a shield.
With booming sounds, my whole body shook each time the rounds exploded.
Crack!
In that brief moment of stabbing a dagger into the allied Titan serving as a shield and scraping it away with force and output.
Using the full-body thrusters specialized in turning maneuvers, it was enough to move behind the enemy.
Igniting the elbow rocket, I pierced and tore out the generator with my claws.
Without turning back, I ignited the thrusters.
A barrage of high-explosive shells poured over the already destroyed generator.
“Ugh?!”
Daniel grabbed one of Hati’s arms with his massive hand.
It wasn’t just the arm that was big.
Countless additional thrusters were installed to move that massive, heavy body.
“At this range, you absolutely can’t dodge.”
Armor gaps opened and charged electromagnetics discharged.
A localized EMP here would be bad.
If I give one arm and take one arm in return.
Crack!
The sound of gunfire from afar.
A small bullet pierced a small armor gap, went through to the other side, and embedded in the ground.
An old-model tungsten armor-piercing round.
“What?”
“This is…”
Daniel hurriedly reverse-thrusted and retreated.
At the same time, he raised his head.
There was a Titan on the fortress wall.
It was a commonly used Southern Titan, but different in that its head was hastily painted purple.
Beep.
“Sorry for the trouble. There aren’t many times when I’m in my right mind, but what a relief.”
Grandmother’s voice.
But that voice alone was enough.
Robert tore through a new-model Titan with his chainsword and accelerated.
“It’s Mom!”
Angelos escaped from the explosion in a half-destroyed Titan.
“Mother?”
“Have my sons been well?”
Boooom!
Daniel struck the ground with his fist.
Dust surged from the shockwave.
“Dolores, is a ghost trapped in the past interfering with me?!!”
“You and I aren’t so different, Daniel.”
Daniel’s backpack opened.
Micro missiles spewed out instantly.
“Me who lives in the past with dementia, and you who can’t kick old habits and have to fight another war to survive. What’s the difference? Ah, there is something different.”
“Aili, I think we’ll have to move roughly.”
I have to avoid this.
Every single one of those small missiles is a guided munition.
“An otaku who roughs up his gyaru…”
“Ah, please! Let’s go!”
Acceleration.
I scattered a barrage with the submachine gun and ran between the missiles.
Sometimes using Southern Front Titans as shields, sometimes rubble from destroyed buildings, and scattering loaded submachine gun fire again.
Still, there was time to listen.
“You started a war, and I came to stop it.”
“Why! What right do you have to stop my war, which has a just cause?!!”
At Daniel’s shouting, Dolores let out a dry cough.
“What nonsense? Do you need a reason to hate war?”
Having finished interception, I accelerated backward to increase the missiles’ flight distance.
Simultaneously reverse-thrusting, I twisted around and changed thruster direction.
High-explosive shells cascaded toward my original trajectory, only to miss me again.
Clang!
Occasionally, accompanied by sounds ringing from Daniel’s Titan, bullet trajectories deviated greatly.
But one single thing was lacking to approach.
Speed.
Faster acceleration.
We have faster, stronger thrusters.
“Aaron!”
“What!”
“Push me from behind!”
Boom!
Icarus, fallen from the sky, grabbed my back.
“Don’t order me around!!!”
Grrrrr.
Kiiiiiiing!!!
The thrusters of both Titans spewed fire simultaneously.
Icarus’s linear acceleration and Hati’s direction-changing ability combined into one.
At this moment alone, I moved rivaling an evil dragon.
“Why, why are you struggling so desperately!”
Daniel raised his fist.
I can dodge.
If it’s now.
“Aaron, let go!”
Clank!
The moment I separated from Icarus, side thrusters.
With instantaneous acceleration, I dug in behind Daniel.
Hati’s Pile Bunker made a charging sound, and Icarus’s battle axe made a heating sound.
Two close-combat weapons struck simultaneously.
At the generator and core simultaneously.
Yet it didn’t break through completely.
“What kind of armor…!”
So thick that even the Pile Bunker couldn’t completely pierce it, and with such high heat resistance that even heat weapons couldn’t fully melt it.
I don’t even know what kind of armor Count Luna fabricated.
The moment I tried to retreat, Hati instead fired its thrusters even harder.
“Deep! What are you doing! Retreat!”
“No.”
Aili turned back with a pale face.
“If it’s the otaku I know, he can do this much, right?”
Click.
I pushed the stick forward.
My whole body tingled and my nose stung.
I smelled blood.
“Will you be okay?”
“I don’t spare my heart for Deep, so wouldn’t it be strange to spare my body?”
“Yes!”
I drop the submachine gun.
I raise my claws.
Tearing out the pierced generator, I accelerated sideways to avoid the fist.
Dodging the micro missiles fired in desperation, I accelerated again.
“Why, in the world!”
“Because my heart tells me to.”
I tear the armor.
I smash it.
I break it.
Grabbing the shattered core armor with both hands, I unleashed the elbow rockets.
With crunching sounds, the cracks grew larger and larger.
I finally saw Daniel trembling.
“My heart tells me to stop this war.”
“Because you have to do what you want to do!”
“And because you have to do your best to the point of death.”
Daniel gritted his teeth.
“For such a trivial reason… my South….”
“Trivial?”
Rrrrip!
The core armor tore, and Daniel’s Titan stopped.
“If you won’t do as your heart tells you, why do you even have a heart?”
I raised my claws to strike but stopped.
It wasn’t me who stopped.
It was Aili.
Aili smiled, pressing the communication button.
“Like, for real, for real, totally insane, for real! Daniel, the leader of the Southern Front, just had a total Titan kaboom incident! If you surrender quickly now, maybe you’ll be treated a little less roughly?”
A declaration of surrender.
In other words, it was the end of the war.