BXBX NOVEL Chapter 56
—-Arakawa Kouki Point of View —-
I use my terminal and select the name of Claire Dauntless from the list of registered address and press the call button. I know that we were busy but she should be waiting outside the Russian airspace… but I should prepare my excuses.
“…Hello, this is Claire”
I heard the voice of Claire-san while I was thinking on what kind of excuse I should give. She answered the call quicker than I expected. She had a sullen look but her eyes is looking anxiously towards me.
Yoshi, if it comes to this then all I have to do is apologize with all my heart while trembling in fear against her. I’m sure she will forgive me and will at least not shoot me with a tranquilizer gun.
“Claire-san, I apologize for worrying you. I promise that I will never do something like this again in the future”
“Seriously… you are just like the Captain. I cannot get angry at you if you apologize like that. Ma~ I expect Miki-san to strictly lecture you when we get back so I will not say anything anymore”
Thank goodness── Unlike mom, Claire-san’s expressionless face when angry is too frightening. She can thoroughly crush your spirit and that is too much for me to handle.
“However, Anton! Your case is different, do you understand? Your job is to protect the children including Kouki from assassination but why did you bring him yourself to a dangerous place? You should be responsible on your duties!! In the first place──”
“Claire-san, your voice is can be heard here by the Russian, please do this for later. For now, I’d like you to come and pick us up… Can you land on the Air Force base where I get off here in Russia? I don’t think a fully armed Noah Aircraft should land on a civilian airport”
I look at the face of the Lieutenant Colonel while saying this to Claire-san, and he strongly nods. Looks like they are also worried about that but they could not say it.
“I understand, then we will enter Russian Airspace as soon as possible. The expected time of arrival is 1 hour and 20 minutes…… Eh? Please wait a moment”
Claire-san who is shown on my terminal screen is listening to someone through her headset. Then the interior of the aircraft which had ordinary lighting switched to a dark red lighting, did something happened? Anton-san who is outside of the camera range move closer and as he look at the screen his eyebrows wrinkled.
“Kouki-kun, I’m sorry I cannot go there”
“……Hai?”(TN: Raw is ‘Hai’ but Hai means ‘Yes’. Can be translated as ‘Why?’ or ‘Huh?’ This is a Japanese expression of being surprised and asking for the reason)
“I don’t have much time so I will explain as briefly as I can, if there is anything that you don’t understand ask Anton about it. We are currently flying at an altitude of 13,000 meters but we are intercepted by an Unknown Aircraft. It is not responding to my communication and there is no response on my IFF. The Unkown has launched AAM. We are taking evasive maneuver but we will probably be shot down. Which means Kouki-kun and Anton, find a way to escape Russia on your own. Anton, I don’t care how but make sure to escort Kouki-kun back to Noah’s Headquarters in Hakone Base. Communication out” (TN: IFF means “Identification, friend or foe”. It is an identification system designed for command and control. It enables military and civilian air traffic control interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator. IFF may be used by both military and civilian aircraft. AAM means “Air-to-air missile”. It is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fueled but sometimes liquid fueled. Also, Unknown is written in English. I don’t know if there is a hidden meaning behind it.)
What does she mean? Did she said that the aircraft she is riding is being attacked? Why is this happening? The Russian agreed to my proposal just now and the negotiation just ended. Why are they attacking us…. no way!?
“Anton-san!! This room is also──”
Before I can finish my sentence, Anton-san quickly grabbed me using his thick arm and place me behind him. I knew I can always count on him but I wonder if he can manage with only that little pistol in him? While thinking about such things, Anton-san points the gun to the Lieutenant Colonel and asked in deep voice while hearing the clicking sound when Anton-san release the safety on his gun.
“I’m sure you heard it, the aircraft that come to pick us up was attacked. I know that you don’t have any reason to do such actions but I do not want to exclude any chance of possibility…… Is the Russian Government involved in the current situation?”
“Calm down Senior Lieutenant. The official order that we receive from the government is to protect Arakawa and send him back safely to Japan. In other words, we have no idea on the attack just now. This is probably an attack by New World”
It is like that after all… If this is not an attack by Russia then the only possibility that remains is the New World’s involvement. I wonder how far New World has infiltrated? Only high ranking officials should know that I am here, rather what could their goal be. I can’t figure out if they want to kill me or just get information from me.
For the time being, it would be best to leave this room. I should go somewhere safe── While thinking on our course of action, the lights suddenly went out and cover the room in darkness.
“Anton-san, is this a blackout?”
“No, this kind of building should have a back up generator so having a blackout is normally impossible, someone must have deliberately shut off the lights. Kouki-kun, there are curtain hanging on the windows but still do not go near it… there is a possibility of them having a sniper. Lieutenant Colonel! What are the Defensive Capability of this hotel?”
“The security room on the 30th floor is packed with soldiers that belongs to Special Forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There are also 5 power suits deployed in basement and entrance. The invaders will have a tough time in breaking through”
According to the Lieutenant Colonel, we will likely be able to hold out until our rescue arrives but I am concerned about our personal terminals which ‘don’t have any response’. Even if I press a button, the screen remains black and you cannot hear that faint sound when the device is on standby. As my eyes gradually get used to the darkness, I conclude that the device is not working because the terminal of Anton-san and Lieutenant Colonel don’t have that blinking green light which indicates that it is working.
“Anton-san, we are in danger. The firearms held by the Special Forces and the power suits downstairs are probably not working”
“What do you mean!?”
“My terminal is not functioning even though Mom did her demonic remodeling in it. Also, both Anton-san and Lieutenant Colonel terminals are not working as well. The fact that my terminal is disabled even though it has countermeasures against ECM, since that cannot be done by a simple jamming, perhaps this is an EMP attack… There is a possibility that the personal identification device which is required for them to use the fire arms are also destroyed. The possibility of the powersuit to be in the same situation is also high” (TN: ECM means ‘Electronic Countermeasure’. It is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy. EMP means ‘Electromagnetic Pulse’. It is also sometimes called a transient electromagnetic disturbance. It is a short burst of electromagnetic energy. EMP interference is generally disruptive or damaging to electronic equipment, and at higher energy levels of a powerful EMP event such as a lightning strike can damage physical objects such as buildings and aircraft structures.)
Noah had introduced equipment against EMP due to the proposal of Macho but I remember mom having headache because the cost was crazy expensive. If an army of a private company with state-of-the-art equipment having trouble getting this kind of equipment, then it is reasonable that the currently deployed Russian troops which is no where near that level can have that kind of equipment. In other words, we have to escape from this place using those old automatic pistol whose appearance did not change for 200 years.
“What should we do?”
“Kouki-kun should escape alone from this place. Since you can speak Russian, you should be fine even without escort right? Listen, once you get off from this hotel go to the apartment written on this memo. My friends prepared some cash and a counterfeit passport for emergency. Once you have those──”
“Wa-wait a minute! It’s impossible for me to do that alone. Also, what are you planning to do Anton-san?”
“Kouki-kun!! We don’t have time so keep quiet and listen… once you have those, board a train going to Finland. Avoid heading east at all cost, you should go to Finland which is on the other side okay? Also, when you buy a ticket. Use should absolutely use cash. If you use credit card, you will be traced by our enemies. Once you arrive in Finland, it is good to head to the second address written in the memo. That place is a safe house of Noah, you can request for help in there. Did you get all of that? Take this handgun and make sure to keep it at you always”
While saying that, Anton-san hand over his handgun. I take the hand gun that felt heavy in my hands and hid it under my jacket. Anton-san speaks while patting my head.
“Don’t worry, Kouki-kun had shooting training in Noah Island right? You are not going to fight, you are running away so you should be able to manage somehow”
“I understand. However, how am I going to escape from the hotel in the first place?”
Don’t tell me that I am going to escape through garbage chute… This is the 83rd floor, I will die if I go through that. As I thought about that, Lieutenant Colonel crawled over and talk to me.
“There is a big pond behind this hotel, because the depth of the water is around 15 meters. An inactive powersuit should be able to absorb the impact. There is an Emergency Powersuit on this floor, equip that manually and then you can jump into the pond. It is an Arakawa-Type so you can purge the parts of the suit by igniting the explosives. The Ignition Device do not use semiconductors so it should still be working even after an EMP attack. I will help you get into that suit, so please follow me”
Led by the Lieutenant Colonel, he carefully opened the door and confirmed the situation outside before moving out to the corridor. He then removed a decorated painting on the wall and lowered the lever hidden behind it. It is probably a lever based on an old-fashioned device that has high reliability. The mechanism started normally, the wall lifted up and a power suit was revealed before me.
“This is ‘Russian Army 5th Generation Powersuit – Mirazh’. I would like to have Arakawa-san ride it in a running state but we cannot do that right now. I hope I can impress you of it’s running state performance in the future”
The Lieutenant Colonel was saying that with a laugh despite the situation. This powersuit which means Mirage in Russia can easily destroy the enemy if only it is in its working state. It is a heavy duty powersuit and I think that it is powerful.
They then use a special tool next to the power suit to forcibly open the cockpit. Yuri-san and Anton-san help me climb inside it and I fasten the seat belt. At the same time, I wear a helmet which suppose to have a built-in HUD but I will not be able to use it this time. I make a thumbs up to inform them that I am ready and the cockpit was slowly closed from the outside.
“Arakawa-san, I will forcefully eject you from the hotel after a 10 second countdown. You will probably land on your back so please prepare for impact! I’m ashamed to admit this but I do not know how far is my country in collaborating with New World… Please consider all public institution in this country as potential enemies… I know that Senior Lieutenant said this already but find someway to escape── Please be safe”
“Understood!! So please, Lieutenant Colonel, Yuri-san and Anton-san. Don’t do anything rash, surrender peacefully”
“……Starting countdown! 10, 9, 8, 7”
“Did you hear me!? Promise me!!”
“3, 2, 1, Ejecting!!”
Without hearing any reply on my words, I heard an explosion and felt that I was floating. Then, I found myself falling to the ground from my back in a violent speed. To be honest, I am afraid and about to cry but I am more worried on Anton-san and Claire-san.
I will definitely save you all so please be safe… I thought about such things when I felt a sudden impact, I safely landed and the suit started to sink under the water──
Author Notes: The Alice Project Arc is progressing rapidly. I was actually thinking for around 30 minutes whether to add a different point of view after everything (. · Ω ·.) The next chapter will surely be an unpredictable development so please look forward to it.