23 I'm not your Enemies

"Bang bang"

Kuroko shot enemies AS and tanks.

"Detecting a new A.S. appeared 100 meters left from the unit"

Mao and another Mithril A.S. looked at it. They aimed their gun at him.

"Why is that A.S. not detected before?"

Kuroko hacked the Mithril communication network and said.

"It is me, Tetsuya Kuroko. I will help you to defeat enemies."

"WHAT?"

"Don't worry, I'm not your opponent." then Kuroko rushed toward enemies.

....

Suddenly...

"This is Teiwaz Twelve," announced one of the attack choppers overhead. "We spotted M9 wreckage that appears to be Urzu Sixes. It's in a river to the north of the base."

"Say what?" Mao paled.

"The torso's been sliced in half."

What? The torso-the cockpit? No!

"Did the operator make it?"

"Don't know. The smoke's too thick to see much."

"Well, keep looking. And what about Sousuke?"

Before answering, the helicopter pilot swallowed thickly. "I want to look for them, Mao, but we simply don't have time."

"Just one minute. I'll go, too. "

"Withdraw at once. I forbid you to search," interrupted Lieutenant Commander Kalinin, who was in one of the recon choppers.

"But, Lieutenant Commander!"

"The reinforcements already are across the bridge. Interceptors are on their way. If we -stick around, you'll all be wiped out."

His tone indicated no room for negotiations. "Teiwaz Twelve, fire your remaining rounds at the M9 wreckage. Don't let the enemy get their hands on a single screw."

"Teiwaz Twelve, Roger."

"Wai-"

Firing a rocket, the attack helicopter carried out the command, blowing Kurz's AS to bits.

"Urzu Two, hurry up and dock with the transport helicopter."

For the briefest moment, the lieutenant commander's coldness infuriated Mao, and it took a great deal of effort for her to swallow the word "murderer" before it came out of her mouth.

"Urzu Two, Roger."

Kalinin was right; the enemy would be there shortly.

Hearing this, Kuroko said "I will save them"

Kuroko exited from his A.S.

Then put it at his inventory. He vanished.

"What?"

"It just ordinary A.S. we could not detect it"

"Mao, do you know the pilot?"

"Yes, he is an ordinary student. He is studying in the same class as Kaname and Sousuke. His name is Tetsuya Kuroko. He said he wiped out all of the enemies in the base before we arrived here"

...

Lauren climbed down from his inoperable mech onto the damp ground.

Grunting, he looked up at the silver AS. The chest armor plate was largely crushed, its internals exposed. The actuator stabilizer trickled out like blood, and smoke spewed from several joints.

The AS called the Codarl was overheating.

This happened because Lauren had to use the unfinished Lambda Driver, which shorted the MOTIVE system. All he could do for the time being was hide in the brush and hope to keep out of sight of the enemy helicopters.

The Lambda Driver had powers, unlike any previous man-made invention. With the ability to amplify the operator's attack and defense impulses, it converted thoughts into pseudo-physical power. Scientific types called it a "false-axis repulsive-field generator system."

Although this system had the potential to change modern warfare completely, that was still a long way off. There simply was not enough information. They had to get their hands on a new source of knowledge.

That was their motivation for abducting the Whispered.

"Piece of crap!" declared Gauron, looking toward the base.

Mithril's helicopters and VTOL fighters receded into the western sky.

"Kalinin ... that smug bastard." Even Lauren and Gauron didn't anticipate a rescue operation to occur so quickly. Only one day after the hijacking of flight 903.

On top of that, Mithril disposed of the bomb Gauron had planted on the plane.

With no dry run and no recon group, the surprise attack defied all common sense of special operations.

But it seemed like something Kalinin would do. If Lauren had known he was with Mithril, he would've drafted a countermeasure.

As it was, the rescue enabled Kashim and the Whispered girl to escape. Major failure.

"You'll pay for this, dammit!"

A transmission came from one of his subordinates:

"Lauren, one of the firefighters said he spotted a suspicious person near the base's western fence, ostensibly escaping with a young girl in tow."

"A young man?"

"Not sure. In any case, they went west."

Lauren chuckled to himself. What luck! Kashim jailed to meet up with his allies. If he went west, they were heading toward the coast. Kashim must hope to connect with his people there.

It was about twenty miles from there to the coast. No matter how fast they were, it would take them at least the whole night. There was plenty of time to repair the Codarl.

"My, oh my. It looks like this party's just getting started."