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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏𝟒: 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 (5)
Mediating between two sides that are hell-bent on destroying each other through dialogue is an incredibly difficult task.
➖The Chimeraz are not belligerent. The circumstances have made them belligerent.
➖We angered them, the UNF attacked them and now the Vehlpciaarct are attacking their subordinate races.
➖It has always been the Chimeraz who were wronged first.
➖Yet the situation had stabilized somewhat. It was a peace bought with blood, but it was peace nonetheless.
➖The Local Group of Galaxies, which had been ravaged by war for centuries, stopped fighting in the face of a universe-scale ‘fear’.
Then the Lead Core asserted one word.
➖Ark-nim. The Chimeraz are a race that is too powerful, like a bomb.
➖I agree. The Chimeraz are a race akin to the nuclear weapons of Earth’s past. To put it in another way, it is a race that can perform its function just by existing, without having to actually be used. There is no need to go out of our way to light the fuse and set it off.
➖It will explode someday, even if it is not in our generation. It will be impossible to stop then, unlike now.
➖At least, it won’t explode towards those who didn’t light the fuse. Rather, it would selectively explode towards those who are a threat, those who harm the shared peace.
➖Can you guarantee that such an ideal future will come?
➖No one can be certain about the future. However, we can stack up the best choices we can make in order to bring about an ideal future.
That was the end of his persuasion.
➖I apologize. If there is even a 1% chance that the Chimeraz will pose a threat in the future, we will remove that possibility.
Even if Ark’s words are true and the Chimeraz have a 99% chance of bringing about a functioning future, in the other 1% of futures, the probability of ‘not’ being able to stop the Chimeraz converges to 100%.
Therefore, it is rational to eliminate that 1% of futures now, when the probability of ‘being able’ to stop the Chimeraz is the highest.
That was the Vehlpciaarct’s calculation.
➖Lead Core. I ask you to reconsider that judgment. We want stability and peace in the Local Group of Galaxies.
➖We also want stability and peace. However, we reject the notion of achieving it through the Chimeraz.
The Lead Core makes a final request of Ark.
➖Step aside, Phase Assault Troops. If you will not help us, we will remove the threat with our own power. And we will prevent the worst future from coming to pass.
➖I am sorry, but I cannot step aside.
➖Then, the Phase Assault Troops will be swept up in the fleet battle.
➖If the Phase Assault Troops are damaged by the Vehlpciaarct fleet, we too will respond actively.
➖If that is your decision, then so be it. We have no intention of backing down here either.
➖I understand.
🔷🔷🔷
“I thought it was Lopez, but come to think of it, there’s no way he would show up on a dangerous battlefield like this on his own two feet.”
➖I apologize about that time.
“There is no need for a formal apology. You are incapable of feeling the emotion of regret, are you not?”
➖. . . That is correct. And I understand that no apology from anyone on our side can have a positive effect on Kreion-nim’s perception.
“Then there is nothing for us to talk about. Don’t meddle in this war unnecessarily. Ark.”
➖The Vehlpciaarct have put everything on the line. If the Chimeraz side also expresses a willingness to cease hostilities and has another conversation with them, we can end this here.
Then, Ludwig, who was next to Kreion, flashed his single eye ominously.
“Ark. . . . There is a limit to forbearance. . . . Do you think we don’t know your dirty intentions, thinking only of humanity’s gain under the pretense of striving for peace. . . ?”
Kreion raised his hand to stop Ludwig.
➖Do you intend to wipe out the Vehlpciaarct completely? Kreion-nim.
“If one side doesn’t die, it won’t end. That is the nature of the relationship between those machines and us. Even if we smile and reconcile now, eventually we will try to kill each other again.”
Kreion had no intention of stopping either.
“Since the other side has put everything on the line, I intend to wipe them out while I’m at it. They are a clear threat to us.”
➖Is there no chance that you will reconsider that decision?
“Yes, there is. And I suppose you intend to mediate by force if necessary. Isn’t that why you brought the Phase Assault Troops?”
➖That is correct.
“This time, things won’t go your way.”
Kreion, Lead Core, Ark.
None of them had any intention of backing down.
Their races were different. Their experiences were different. The structures of their minds were different. Their thoughts were different and their pursuits were different.
➖I understand.
It was inevitable that things would turn out this way.
➖From this moment on, I will forcibly mediate the war activities of the Chimeraz and the Vehlpciaarct, both races.
🔷🔷🔷
The Phase Assault Troops were formidable.
Just by deploying on a galactic scale, the Phase Assault Troops were powerful enough. However, that deployment was also possible on planetary descents and infiltration inside structures.
It was an indescribably powerful ability.
Ziiiiing. . . !
Phase Assault Troops personnel were teleported into the interior space of Euryale. Regardless of whether they won or lost, these machines engaged the Chimeraz in the colony grounds inside its body, inflicting internal injuries on Euryale.
Rrrrrrr-BANG!!!
Machines covered in new-material armor fired plasma cannons and grenade launchers. Then, from the colony grounds inside Euryale, Grounsecters and Cresecters were sent out to respond with firepower.
The flesh of the floor, walls, and ceiling burst open, covering everything in blood. Euryale, having suffered such severe internal injuries, would inevitably have its punctured inner wall exposed to space, making it vulnerable to enemy cannon fire.
Bam-bam-bam!
Furthermore, the Phase Assault Troops’ ships ‘teleported’ shells out of the blue. They would pass through Euryale’s or Legemeton’s sturdy exoskeletons and thick flesh without resistance, detonating inside their bodies.
‘They are weapons that teleport in particle units. Distort the surrounding space and surround them with a bio-barrier.’
The bio-barrier, which had been spread out mainly to attack the Vehlpciaarct fleet, now retreated to the rear. The bio-barrier had no choice but to take on the role of protecting the precious Chimeraz fliers.
【Strategic opportunity. Attack.】
The Vehlpciaarct ships and fliers were freed from the troublesome attacks of the bio-barrier. Taking that opportunity, they concentrated their attacks on the weakened Euryale and Lemegeton.
【Ark-nim’s army is destroying our allied fliers.】
However, the Phase Assault Troops did not leave the Vehlpciaarct alone either. They teleported a microscopic army capable of waging war on a nanoscale battlefield inside the Vehlpciaarct fliers.
They attacked the Vehlpciaarct fliers from the inside like a moving fluid of metal. The Vehlpciaarct members that made up those fliers were destroyed one by one and used as resources for the microscopic army.
And at the same moment, the Phase Assault Troops also deployed on the surface of each planet.
Humanoids with triangular heads and war machines formed platoons, companies, and battalions, securing stable deployment points.
In response, Kreion spread a bio-barrier in the sky to block the army that was teleporting in particle units. The purpose was to interfere with their communications, block the artificial particles being teleported to the ground, and prevent them from smoothly reconstructing.
‘Phase Assault Troops. . . . I won’t let you get away with it like last time.’
Even though the Chimeraz ground forces at certain locations were annihilated, the Xenoterra on the ground remained intact, so the colony grounds actively utilized it.
Splat!
The Xenoterra spewed out a black liquid.
Basically, the Phase Assault Troops were an army that reconstructed at designated coordinates. In other words, they were not complete weapons until their reconstruction was complete.
At the point where only the internal circuit boards or the organs for movement were reconstructed, they would be in a vulnerable state, lacking both the new-material armor and the weapons that protected them. It was precisely that vulnerable state that the black liquid was sprayed at, causing the weapons to suffer fatal internal injuries even after their reconstruction was complete.
Sizzle. . . . Sizzle. . . .
And the black liquid also contained bio-bomb organisms, which attempted to induce infection inside their bodies.
Kreion, who had been carefully observing the ground battle, realized one thing.
‘The Phase Assault Troops have developed resistance to bio-bombs.’
Inside their weapons, there was a fluid that flowed like blood. Just as living organisms have immune systems, the Phase Assault Troops’ machines responded to internal infections in such a mechanical way.
Sizzle. . . ! Sizzle. . . !
Microscopic wars were also being fought inside the bodies of each machine. It was a war between the bio-bombs that were trying to infect and take control of the body, and the microscopic army that was trying to kill those bio-bombs with thermal energy.
This was disadvantageous for the Chimeraz.
If the microscopic war was taking place inside the body of a living organism, that would be one thing, but inside the machines, the machine-like things could utilize more resources.
‘Xenoterra, increase the proportion of black liquid while excluding the bio-bombs.’
Just as this side had prepared with the Phase Assault Troops in mind, the other side had also prepared a great deal for dealing with the Chimeraz.
If shells, troops, and the like were teleported inside their bodies, the Chimeraz would spread a bio-barrier to interfere with normal teleportation and spray black liquid to subdue them before they could reconstruct. That was how they fought, responding to each other.
On the other hand, the Vehlpciaarct had made no preparations for dealing with the Phase Assault Troops. They had never imagined that they would have to fight the Phase Assault Troops.
【There’s no helping it. We have to prioritize responding to the Phase Assault Troops’ attacks over the Chimeraz.】
In order to minimize damage, Force Core’s argument was correct.
However, Lead Core thought differently.
【That’s not true. Rather, we should take advantage of this situation to further our offensive against the Chimeraz. No matter how much our numbers dwindle, the Phase Assault Troops will not end up destroying us all.】
【So, starting with the planets that have lost their leaders, cleanse them to the giant motherships.】
【I understand. Should we destroy the planets themselves?】
【That would be an excessive waste of energy. Just cleanse the surface enough so that the colony grounds can’t function properly.】
Giant motherships resembling mechanical sea urchins with a diameter of 13 kilometers began to concentrate fire on the Chimeraz colony ground planets that had lost their masters.
The evaporated moisture formed large, ring-like clouds all over the continent, and the colony grounds below them burned like hellfire.
The motherships concentrated their fire even more in order to erase the Skeletunnels and tendrils that spread like roots beneath the surface of the planets.
Then, Phase Assault Troops fliers appeared from somewhere and flew around the motherships, in turn concentrating fire on the motherships.
【We are losing precious motherships.】
【It’s okay. The Chimeraz are losing their precious colony grounds.】
The three forces fought each other. In such a situation, it was calculated that the Chimeraz would inevitably suffer the most damage.
After all, this was the Chimeraz’s territory.
🔷🔷🔷
The barren land of the 4th planet.
All of the Chimeraz structures were dead and corpses were strewn everywhere. Perhaps all of the Xenoterra had been burned away, revealing the planet’s rough terrain.
And something was teleported here.
Ziiiiing!
A four-legged, giant polygonal tank, 65 meters tall and equipped with a molecular-scale mobile production plant inside, completed its reconstruction.
It was the artificial intelligence Overlecter, who had developed new technologies at the center of the human galaxy and controlled the Phase Assault Troops.
➖Secure, conquer, and mediate.
➖Eliminate the Vehlpciaarct that are attacking this planet and block the Chimeraz that are trying to attack the Vehlpciaarct outside this planet.
The Phase Assault Troops could teleport not only troops and shells.
Ziiiiiing. . . .
High spires, thick outer walls, anti-aircraft gauss cannons, a flat paved runway, and a landing field with mechanical arms.
➖Reconstruction of the anti-aircraft defense base is in progress.
A complete anti-aircraft defense base had been teleported onto the cleared surface.
➖Protect the area until the reconstruction is complete. Overlecter.
➖I will carry out the order.
Due to its considerable size and width, it took time for the entire anti-aircraft defense base to be reconstructed.
Bam! Bam!
Therefore, a large-scale force that could be reconstructed more quickly was teleported.
A polygonal tank slightly smaller than Overlecter’s body, an airborne destroyer, a small polygonal tank that could jump like a spider, an anti-gravity tank with excellent maneuverability, thousands of humanoid troops and dozens of war machines, combat helicopters, fighter-bombers, multipurpose Drone Hives, and Chaintropers, the modern-day cold weapons.
Screeeeeech!!!
“I’m here! Time to wreck everything!”
➖Be quiet. Mothertrooper.
“But he tricked me?”
➖Speak through the communication channel.
➖But he tricked me? He sent a fake body to Asilomar Ziggurat?
A giant cold weapon shaped like a sphere, with a diameter of almost 52 meters, which had once cut up Kreion’s body, also revealed itself.
➖That’s not important. Your mission is to clean up the Vehlpciaarct in this vicinity.
Before these beings were teleported to this location, the Vehlpciaarct ground forces that had annihilated the Chimeraz in this area were all around.
➖Why do we have to march so tediously?
➖So you want me to teleport you inside Kreion’s colony grounds?
➖Yeah!
➖You idiot. Such a central location would be destroyed before reconstruction could even be completed. And there’s no way it would be properly reconstructed because of the bio-barrier in the sky.
Jingle, jingle, jingle!
Since there was no Xenoterra on the ground, the Vehlpciaarct in this vicinity walked around with mechanical tentacles-like things propping up the ground. Those Vehlpciaarct were hurriedly gathering.
➖They’ve noticed our intentions.
➖What intentions?
➖Damn it, you’re still stupid even after 20 years. How many times do I have to explain it for you to understand? They’re trying to attack before we attack. Those Vehlpciaarct.
➖Oh, I get it now.
➖Too late. You moron.
The Vehlpciaarct ground forces gathered in an instant and fired crimson particle weapons at the anti-aircraft defense base that was still under construction.
🔷🔷🔷
A shiny ornament shaped like a honeycomb.
The large leader with dozens of pairs of legs like a centipede asked the plant community with pheromones.
【Honestly, the Chimeraz are better than humans. But if we step in, won’t it seem like we’re meddling? I’d like to avoid worsening relations with the humans.】
【It won’t be a problem. What’s currently appearing in the Hecartra solar system isn’t the humans’. It’s Lopez’s personal army.】
【Even so, it’s a burden to deal with the Vehlpciaarct and the Phase Assault Troops as well.】
【The Chimeraz and the Ririm will join forces. The Hyraguroa can just help out a little there. We need more allies to eliminate the Vehlpciaarct. If the Hyraguroa helps out too, we can increase our chances of winning.】
【Even if I know that, this isn’t something I can decide easily.】
【I understand that it’s a burden. But I would like you to consider the long-standing alliance between the Ririm and the Hyraguroa. We are participating in this war because we are allied with the Chimeraz. In that case, I think the Hyraguroa can also participate in the war for the Ririm, their allies. There’s a good reason for it.】
【When you put it that way, this is difficult. Ririm.】
【It’s not a compulsion. No matter what choice you make, the Ririm is on the Hyraguroa’s side. But I would like you to choose whether to help or not from a broader perspective. This war will be an important juncture for the Hyraguroa’s position in the future. It’s also an opportunity to gain a great deal of goodwill diplomatically.】
【. . . . . . .】
【The choice is up to the Hyraguroa queen. What will you do?】
【For now, let me ask you this: the war shouldn’t drag on too long or spread, right?】
【Agreed.】
【I don’t know about the Vehlpciaarct, but what about the Phase Assault Troops? Do you have a surefire way of dealing with them?】
【We do.】
The Ririm stated resolutely at that moment.
【You can trust us.】