《Roger. The torpedo?》 responded the machine’s AI, Al.
“Yes.”
《Located. Designating target Alpha-12. Eleven o’clock, range 1000. Estimated speed: Ninety kilometers per hour. Approaching. Collision in thirty seconds.》
“Precision fire mode. We’re going to hit it with all we’ve got. Variable adjustments?”
《I have no reliable targeting adjustment data for underwater objects.》
“No choice. Concentrate.”
《Roger. Precision fire mode.》
Surrounded by the green water of his night vision screen, Sousuke could see the heat source, shimmering white, as it approached. The thought of sparing ammunition didn’t enter his mind; the moment it was in the crosshairs, he pulled both triggers. Sprays from both his 40mm rifle and 12.7mm head-mounted chain guns hit the water with a roar. At his feet, Kurz and the others covered their ears and retreated to the ship’s starboard side.
Chain guns were originally 30mm machine guns developed for use by combat helicopters. The Arbalest and M9s came with a modified version of them, smaller but with greater firing speed, mounted on their heads. It was these chain guns—firing at a rate of 1800 shots per minute, or thirty high-caliber shots per second—that he had just used to clear up the Alastor horde. These chain guns joined the Arbalest’s 1200-shot-per-minute 40mm rifle in raining fire down on the ocean.
But even all of this failed to stop the torpedo. None of the shots even landed; the minute the bullets hit the water, they went wildly off course, and they only maintained momentum for a couple of meters, anyway.
The high-speed torpedo continued towards the Pacific Chrysalis.
《Torpedo interception failed. Evasive maneuvers recommended,》 urged his machine, likely thinking of its own safety.
But Sousuke, still scowling at the target on his screen, was working his rarely-employed imagination. There are no options left. The ship is going to sink. My comrades, my schoolmates, Chidori... they’ll all be blown away. Cast into the cold winter sea. I won’t let it happen!
That determination, combined with unshakable confidence, proved to be the perfect formula to activate the system sleeping inside his machine.
《We have it. It will work. Orders, Sarge,》 Al said briefly, as if to encourage him.
“Jump in!”
《Roger.》
Sousuke and Al threw themselves from the cruise ship’s deck into the ocean. A feeling of weightlessness lasted for just a second, before the impact came. Bubbles foamed up around him and then promptly burst into nothing as he sank through the water’s surface. After shooting a line into the ship from his wire gun to anchor him, Sousuke fought against the currents created by the ship to carefully fine-tune his position.
《Torpedo incoming. Okay, hold position. Ready? Count five. Three... two...》 Reading Sousuke’s rhythm and mood perfectly, Al began the countdown at just the right moment. It was the kind of thing that a normal AI wouldn’t be capable of. He could see the torpedo approaching, right at the center of his night-vision screen. 《Now!》
Sousuke gripped the stick and wrenched the right master arm back. Mimicking his movements perfectly, the machine thrust an unwavering fist at the torpedo that had come to encompass his vision.
The ocean frothed and the air warped. The Arbalest’s lambda driver activated, and an invisible force field slammed the torpedo from the front. The target shattered and exploded on impact, and the entirety of the torpedo’s explosive energy was channeled out behind it. A geyser of water burst out of the sea, and rocked the ship with its force. The Arbalest was sent tumbling, clinging desperately to the wire extending from its left arm, and Sousuke let out a noise of strain.
《Success,》 Al reported. 《The lambda driver has activated. Enemy torpedo eliminated. Let’s rev ourselves up again quickly, in case another one appears. Get revved up. The revving up is important.》
“I know! Shut up!” Sousuke shouted, struggling to regain his machine’s balance as raging waves buffeted him from all sides. He had to be careful: if the wire gun’s anchor came loose, he’d end up spinning free of the ship. But soon enough, the turbulence from the explosion died down, and the threat of a follow-up torpedo seemed nil. Sousuke let out a sigh of relief, carefully retracted the wire, and managed to crawl back onto the deck.
But their troubles weren’t over.
While the Arbalest was off stopping the torpedo, Kaname was running toward the starboard side of the deck with Yang and a few other Mithril soldiers. After hearing Tessa’s voice in her mind, she had called out to a few nearby men, and they’d rushed together to the corner where the lifeboats were located.
Suddenly, they were hit by a roar and an impact. The ship lurched hard to the right. Kaname almost went tumbling, but she clung to the wall desperately and shouted, “What was that?!”
“I guess the torpedo hit us. It’s strange, though. It didn’t feel as bad as all that...”
Did Sousuke and the Arbalest stop the torpedo? Kaname wondered as she picked herself up. “We’re probably okay. Hurry!”
Yang looked at her quizzically, but responded, “R-Right...” and they started running again. “But are you sure the colonel was kidnap—”
“I’m sure. The captain here was gonna take her in a lifeboat— There!” Kaname pointed beyond the part of the deck used for a jogging track, to the broadside that housed the lifeboats.
Yang got ahead of her and readied his gun. “Keep back,” he ordered. “Stay behind me. The enemy could still be hiding out here.” According to the nearby diagram, there should be five boats hanging off the side of the ship. But as Kaname and Yang ran up, they found only four.
“One’s missing,” Kaname whispered. “Tessa...”
“Dammit,” a soldier shouted. “One o’clock, 500 meters out!” In the vague illumination provided by the cruise’s ship’s lighting, Kaname could see a boat speeding away.
“We’re too late,” Yang growled.
“Don’t give up!” Kaname cried out. “There has to be a—”
“I know. Uruz-9 to Gebo 9, do you read me?” Yang called into his radio,
