How to Survive on the Armored Front

Chapter 11

[Five minutes past scheduled wake-up. Requesting pilot behavior correction. This AI is not your alarm clock.]

Early morning.

Yan's face scrunched at the voice echoing through the cockpit.

A week had already passed since he began living inside the colossus and training like a madman.

Now the cockpit felt more comfortable than any ordinary barracks.

"Shut up for a second-my skull still aches from yesterday's after-effects...."

Speaking thus, Yan looked at the cockpit he was occupying-more precisely, at the scenery reflected on its surface.

"Nill, open comms."

Nill. A name he had slapped together by borrowing from Glaepnir's own.

[....]

Though Yan had spoken after seeing Ren waiting outside, the AI Nill offered no reply.

"Not going to hurry up?"

[Judged that the behavior patterns and emotion circuits of this biological terminal exert a negative influence on pilot Yan Verkut's psyche. Recommending avoidance of conversation.]

At the brusque voice reverberating through the cockpit, Yan sighed softly and spoke with force.

"Connect at once. That's an order."

[Order confirmed. Establishing communication.]

As soon as he spoke, Ren's face appeared before his eyes.

Ren, looking up at the cockpit with the same emotionless expression as always.

No matter how often he saw her, she looked utterly out of place on a battlefield.

- How is it? Frame status.

"Compared to last week, far better. At least it can run now."

It could operate for about ten minutes without strain. Compared to when he had first boarded the colossus, it was remarkable progress-yet Yan's face showed no joy.

- Merely moving right after first link-up was near miraculous. And to have improved this much-

"Still nowhere near usable in actual combat."

Five minutes or ten-what did it matter?

No matter how superior the colossus, no one would field a defective unit that broke down after ten minutes.

Yet five more colossi had already been deployed to the Elf Kingdom's camp.

Commander Cain's creed was to use every asset available.

"Armor plating installed on Unit Ten! Commencing movement!"

"Good! Now we've finally evened the numbers!"

After pouring heart and soul into the work for a week, they watched the last colossus leave the maintenance yard with satisfied faces.

With this, the Imperial Army colossi deployed to the front lines numbered fifteen-a feat achieved by clinging to newly excavated frames the moment word of the Elf Kingdom's central plains reached them.

- All units except suppression-fire loadouts will switch to close-combat loadouts! If we can't pierce their armor, we'll do it the old-fashioned way!

- Yes, sir!

A colossus knight brigade barely cobbled together with reserve knights and apprentices.

Veteran knights were sternly instructing those who moved in awkward, stumbling gaits.

The brigade would withdraw only after the next battle. Until then, staying alive would be their goal.

"Corporal Yan Verkut! Are you there!"

A booming voice rang out from a corner of the maintenance yard.

Yan grimaced at the familiar tone and looked toward its source.

A brown-haired knight approaching him.

"Randel...?"

Either the healers had worked on him all day or he had recovered cleanly-Randel stood there looking immaculate.

Unable to pretend he had not heard the knight's call, Yan quietly dismounted and approached him.

"You called for me, Sir Knight."

"So you were here! Ha, haha! So, how are things today?"

'...What kind of stunt is this?'

Randel, who had come straight at him, clapped Yan on the shoulder and asked.

For a moment Yan's mind reeled; this was the same man who had dueled him last week.

'I'd feel easier if he just came at me saying he'd kill me.'

If Yan himself disliked the way he looked at Randel, how must Randel feel?

With a quiet sigh in his heart, Yan studied Randel's face.

'It's obvious he's forcing himself-his face gives it away.'

Between that awkward smile he could see clenched teeth.

If you're going to act, at least do it properly.

The mask slipping every which way actually reassured him.

"Well, I mean-sorry about last week, Corporal Yaan!"

Randel thrust out a hand as he blurted the apology.

The surrounding mechanics and knights could not hide their surprise.

A knight suppressing his anger to apologize first-an example of true knightly stature.

"I know I look like this, but I do have a strong sense of justice-seems there was a minor misunderstanding."

'That duel was dripping with malice no matter how you slice it.'

That was what Yan thought, though he could not voice it.

The duel's outcome had erased Yan's guilt, but witnesses who had watched his merciless assault thought otherwise.

'The Penal Corps demon tried to kill even a knight.'

Thanks to rumors spreading among the common soldiers and officers who had watched the duel, the unit's opinion of Yan only worsened.

'And I can't even call it baseless gossip.'

In contrast, Randel-who had accepted the duel's result without protest-kept rising in esteem.

Add this scene to the mix and his reputation would climb even higher.

"Looks like you're already used to the colossus? Your movements have improved!"

'This is insane. Why's he suddenly acting chummy?'

Yan replied with a reluctant expression, though he thought as much.

"I'm still far from adequate."

"Haha! Always so modest!"

Laughing heartily, Randel lowered his voice.

"By the way, you and I will stand together at the vanguard in the next battle. That's why I came."

"...You and I, Sir Knight?"

The absurd news caught Yan so off-guard he nearly doubted his own ears.

"It's already decided. Here's the order, signed by the commander himself."

Had they lost their minds?

Only last week the two had snarled at each other, ready to duel-now they would stand together at the front?

Yan stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Forgive me, Sir Knight, but that-"

"Please don't say no. If knights who once fought a duel can cooperate, surely relations between Penal Corps soldiers and regular troops can improve?"

Randel proclaimed it loudly for all to hear.

"Ooh!"

"As expected, the knight really is something else."

Voices around them praised Randel, but Yan felt only revulsion rising inside.

'Ridiculous. This whole mess is because of what you said back then.'

Thanks to the duel between Randel and himself, regular troops and Penal Corps soldiers-who should be allies in wartime-now regarded each other as enemies.

While the knights steeled themselves with perfect preparation, the front-line soldiers were locked in the worst possible situation.

"So, for the sake of coordination I need to know about that colossus. You'll tell me, won't you?"

Randel asked with that same insincere smile.

"For basic Frame data you should ask Researcher Ren-she's in charge of maintenance...."

"Haha! This guy!"

Yan had tried to find an escape route, but it was hopeless.

The man was a knight well-versed in public opinion warfare.

Without preparation, Yan could never win.

"I'm not asking about armor strength-things like operational time, the output your Frame can produce, that sort of thing."

Watching Randel's never-fading smile, Yan felt a chill of unease run down his spine.

But for Yan, who came from the Penal Corps, it was impossible to withhold information even from a superior officer.

They had no right to refuse.

'There's something off. Handing over everything I know about this guy is dangerous. Especially to that man.'

Thinking that, Yan decided to answer only the questions he had been asked.

'Output is about twice that of the Elf Kingdom colossi, operational time is under ten minutes. Any longer and the Frame shuts itself down?'

Randel, hearing Yan's situation, flashed a triumphant smile.

"A Creator's relic, you say, but operational time is the problem? Ten minutes, and you'll probably fall apart on the way to the front lines."

A colossus, if the rider's mana is sufficient, can move forever. That near-infinite operational time, needing no fuel, was why colossi had become the main force of war, surpassing every other weapon system.

Near-infinite operational time without fuel.

Once that became impossible, that colossus turned into a weapon unfit for real combat.

"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind for tomorrow's operation."

"...Tomorrow, sir?"

Yan voiced his doubt, but Randel grinned and said,

"That's right. Tomorrow's operation."

"...Yes. Understood."

Having said that, Randel hurriedly left the spot.

He looked very busy heading toward the quarters.

"Corporal Yan! There you are. The Commander just-"

Artillery Officer Dandel Klaus, whom Yan had met before, approached him.

"Corporal Yan? What are you looking at?"

Dandel, seeing Yan fail to notice him even when he was right in front of him, asked curiously.

"Second Lieutenant, is the enemy attack scheduled for tomorrow?"

"Hm? No, I haven't heard anything like that."

Dandel expressed his doubt at Yan's sudden question and continued,

"After all, the elves communicate by telepathy, don't they? We have no way to find out what plans they're making. That's why we maintain constant alert like this."

"...I thought the common sense I knew was wrong for a moment."

Yan muttered as if all strength had left his body.

After watching the spot where Randel had vanished, Yan turned his head and looked at his own colossus.

"Corporal Yan?"

Dandel's voice calling from beside him reached his ears, but he couldn't spare the attention.

'I'll keep it in mind for tomorrow's operation.'

That man Randel had definitely said that.

Thinking that, a quiet curse slipped from Yan's lips.

"Shit. He's colluding with them."

***

Beep-!

"Enemy assault! Enemy assault! Everyone up!"

Deep dawn, before the sun had risen.

With the sentry's shout, countless flares were fired across the front lines.

In an instant the battlefield became bright as midday.

Yet the Elf Kingdom camp remained shrouded in deep darkness, only the footsteps of colossi confirming their presence.

"Knights, deploy! Vanguard, to the front!"

After confirming his unit, Yan boarded Glaepnir.

[Good morning pilot. Glaepnir, system start.]

"Does this look like morning to your eyes?"

Yan replied to the dry joke that greeted him as soon as he sat in the cockpit.

[This AI is not equipped with visual organs called eyes. According to United Humanity Federation Standard Time, it is morning.]

"Your mouth's the only thing that works."

The ashen colossus Glaepnir slowly rose.

With him at the head, three colossi followed Yan, wrapped in the red light of flares.

- Damn it, having to go with these defective things.

- Sir Randel! Following you! I leave command to you!

- Don't fall behind, any of you!

One by one, lit by flares, the enemy began to appear. Curses burst from the sentries who had been quietly watching from the trenches.

Behind the goblins who had somehow gathered that many, others began to move.

"Wait a second, those bastards...!"

That was the moment the sentry with binoculars confirmed their forms.

Thud!

A bullet flying from somewhere pierced the binoculars observing the enemy and went through the spotter's head.

Sniping accuracy unbelievable for this darkness.

Such marksmanship was naturally impossible for goblins.

"Orcs...!"

Some wore helmets and combat uniforms, most wore heavy ballistic armor-giants carrying mounted machine guns, slowly walking forward.

Strength and endurance more than three times that of humans, beast-like fighting spirit and human-like judgment.

A combat race responsible for the warrior class of the Elf Kingdom. Orcs.

"Warriors! Let us wipe out the hateful humans' stronghold!"

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"

The Orc legion advanced magnificently, battle cries shaking the entire battlefield.

While the goblins at the vanguard endured the machine gun fire, the machine guns of the armor-clad Orcs poured fire at the human trenches.

Ratatatatatat!

- What the hell? Reinforcements aren't just colossi?!

Goblin and Orc legions pressing the front lines with overwhelming force unlike before.

Once they realized they had lost their only remaining advantage-their superior infantry-the knights' faces turned to shock.

- Sir Randel! It's dangerous! We should withdraw...!

- Sir Kyle! Ahead!

As one knight shouted, the knight called Kyle hurriedly looked ahead. A massive fireball unlike any shell was right before his eyes.

- Ah, no!

Kwaang!

The colossus struck by the fireball slumped as if losing strength. In the center of the colossus's chest, where the cockpit and mana core should have been, only an empty hole remained.

- Mana cannon! They've even brought out mages!

An assault by the Elf Kingdom far beyond expectations.

When word came that the Orc legion and mana cannon, seen only on the central front, had been deployed here, the commander's face turned pale.

"This can't be, ridiculous! Committing this much force to a frontier...!"

Only then did the commander realize what last week's withdrawal order to the knights had meant.

Because he had delayed relaying the order due to his own laziness, had that actually helped the soldiers on the front?

"Headquarters intended to sacrifice this place to pressure the central front!"

The commander shouted that, but seeing his aides all shake their heads.

They had suggested that very thing since the order arrived last week, but the commander had ignored them.

Kwang!

The headquarters, never before attacked, was now bombarded by the Orc legion.

Shells fell with accuracy no human could match. If the colossus on guard hadn't blocked it, the entire staff including the commander would have been turned to fire in an instant.

"Eeek!?"

Terrified by the shell landing right in front of him, the commander immediately bolted from the headquarters.

"C-Commander!?"

"Command it yourselves! I'm going to headquarters to request reinforcements!"

The commander galloped away in haste.

It happened so quickly that no one thought to stop him.

The front-line commander had fled. The moment battle began.

The aide, who had been the commander's direct staff, could only sigh as all eyes in the command center turned to him.

"First, issue orders to the knights! Have them join the defense line and wipe out the Orc infantry first!"

"C-Colonel. Then what about the four colossi that advanced as the vanguard?"

When one of the aides asked that, doubt bloomed on the staff officer's face.

"Vanguard? Who gave such an order?"

Kwooaaang!

With the second mana cannon, the second colossus collapsed powerlessly. They had already lost two colossi before even reaching the front lines.

[Multiple enemy mobile units detected ahead. Probability of destruction is low.]

"I do know, though."

Even after losing two subordinates, Randel's colossus, running ahead of him, remained composed.

Or rather, it seemed not to care at all about the two fallen knights.

- Shouldn't we retreat?

Yaan asked quietly over the loudspeaker.

- No? Everything is proceeding according to plan. There's nothing to worry about.

With an air of innocence, Randel replied and stopped in the middle of the front line.

"...Nill."

[Awaiting orders.]

"Among the shells now flying toward this location, are any aimed at my colossus or Randel's?"

Yaan asked softly for final confirmation.

[Analysis complete. Current operation zone is not included in enemy shell trajectories.]

As the expected answer came, Yaan also stopped in place.

- Sir Knight. You don't have to act anymore.

The moment Yaan said that, Randel's colossus slowly turned to look back.

- Hah, turns out you're sharper than I thought.

'I only figured it out because of your slip-up, you idiot.'

Yaan cursed inwardly.

Randel's colossus slowly drew the sword on its back as it looked at Yaan.

- Since you couldn't win barehanded, do you wish to duel again with colossi?

- Duel? Don't make me laugh. You're not even worth that.

Randel said.

Behind him, the Elf Kingdom colossi appeared all at once with the sound of footsteps.

[Enemy units ahead detected. Count is five. Five more on standby in the rear.]