Time rewound slightly, to before the four girls crossed over, when A2 was still in her original world.
..
The attack time on the Sadogashima HIVE (H21) had been confirmed again. It would begin at 1400 hours tomorrow.
That time had not been chosen at random. It was mainly related to the weather.
Tomorrow, the Sadogashima HIVE (H21) and the surrounding area would be covered by dense clouds.
That weather had been selected so that naval bombardment, missile strikes, and orbital drops of munitions would be hit by the BETA's Laser-class as little as possible.
The Laser-class BETA was not large. It had two pairs of organ-like structures that looked like eyes, which could release high-energy beams with extremely high accuracy. Because of them, humanity had lost air superiority.
For that reason, humanity's fighter aircraft development had shifted toward the development of Tactical Surface Fighters.
Above the Laser-class was the Heavy Laser-class. It had only one eye, but it was much larger and could release even more powerful energy beams. It could even accurately strike targets in low Earth orbit.
Since they were going to assault a HIVE, it was likely guarded by Heavy Laser-class units.
And above the Heavy Laser-class, there was the Super Heavy Laser-class, with a fortress-like body and terrifying firepower.
However, humanity had not yet observed the existence of the Super Heavy Laser-class. The one who knew information about her world had told her that such a thing existed.
Because of that, this assault on the Sadogashima HIVE (H21) also needed to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
"How is it?"
Yūko Kouzuki asked the man climbing down from the Tactical Surface Fighter.
This man had already been in her world for several hours, but he still needed to test how Tactical Surface Fighters operated in this world.
In only a few hours. No, in only one hour, his operating ability had already reached combat-ready standards.
Although he had not entered actual battle, the moment he operated the machine with such agility, the level of his piloting skill was obvious.
A normal trainee, no matter how fast, would still have to measure their training time in months.
As expected of a human from the interstellar age who fought monsters.
"Its mobility is stronger than the AS units on Tessa's side, and it doesn't lose to the Ho229 either. But in terms of flexibility, it falls short."
"It's the difference in the operating system, right?"
The AS and Ho229 this man had mentioned both had master-slave control systems, and when it came to that system, the Whispered on his side had a stronger version.
As for A2's side, theirs was a little weaker because androids had operated their machines in the past, and androids did not need such complicated measures.
Yūko had also obtained that system.
However, that did not mean it could be easily installed into this world's Tactical Surface Fighters.
It was not only a software issue. The hardware also had to be remanufactured, and the cockpits of the Tactical Surface Fighters had to be modified. That was not something that could be finished in a day or two.
It would take at least a month or so to finish the adjustments and modifications.
So right now, not a single Tactical Surface Fighter had been equipped with a master-slave control system.
However, based on some of the operating systems the other side had provided, she had gained many ideas and upgraded her own system, simplifying some of the operations.
"Right."
"The warehouse is ready."
Yūko suddenly said this because the other party was preparing to receive a batch of ammunition from A2's side, the kind with melta warheads.
After she said that, the other party closed his eyes. He was probably contacting A2.
"We have something good."
"Something good?"
"Yes. We can have four people test them."
In other words, that side was also going to provide machines.
The man who had just climbed down from the Tactical Surface Fighter walked toward another open space. In the next instant, four mechs that stunned Yūko were released before her eyes.
She was stunned not because these four machines were especially unusual or enormous.
It was because they were extremely familiar. Weren't these the mechs he had looted from the T'au Empire fleet during his livestream?
Although these mechs looked only about seven or eight meters tall, roughly half the height of this world's Tactical Surface Fighters, they were still mechs from the interstellar age. Their strength went without saying.
Then she would contact Marimo and have her bring the squad to this Tactical Surface Fighter training field so they could familiarize themselves with how to operate the machines before them.
"Hm?"
Kain frowned slightly.
The XV104 Riptide Battlesuits he had taken from the T'au Empire had only been handed to A2's side for processing half a day ago, yet they had already changed considerably?
The reason he had handed them to A2's side was because these mechs used some form of identity authentication. If an unregistered pilot tried to operate them, something would go wrong.
So he had handed them to A2 to see if her side could crack them.
Judging by the current result, they had not merely cracked them. They had also adjusted and modified them.
After opening the cockpit, the situation inside made Kain pause. The cockpit had clearly been modified as well, seemingly replaced with an environment more suitable for human operation.
That definitely was not something that could be accomplished in half a day. It was not something that could be done in a day or two either.
Thinking of something, he immediately asked A2, and the answer he received was exactly what he had expected.
A2 had adjusted one of the dials on Cross-World Invitation, setting the time ratio to one month to one day.
That meant one month had passed on A2's side while only one day had passed on his side.
And the reason for that adjustment was most likely that just after he left Lacus's world and returned to Warhammer, he had also transmitted the Lambda Driver device to A2's side for maintenance.
A2 had been worried that there would not be enough time, so she had made that adjustment.
So, while it looked as if the T'au Empire mechs he transmitted to A2 had been successfully cracked in just a few short hours, in reality, they had probably spent over half a month on them, as well as making modifications.
"Is something wrong?"
"You gave me quite the surprise."
Kain answered with a shrug, then climbed down from the cockpit of the XV104 Riptide.
He walked toward another open space. He was going to bring out his personal ride, one that suited his larger intentions.
In the next instant, a machine that looked very much like a Gundam slammed heavily onto the ground.
This was the T'au's current most powerful mech, the KX139 Ta'unar Supremacy Armour. Its body was about the size of a Gundam, roughly the same as this world's Tactical Surface Fighters.
After being modified on A2's side, it had been fitted with an enlarged version of the Ho229's wings. They looked something like Freedom Gundam's wings, which made it resemble a Gundam even more.
Most importantly, the Lambda Driver system had also been installed in this machine. That made him very much look forward to seeing just how much power it could unleash.
Since he now had a machine this large, bigger than a Knight and more heavily built as well, Kain could install the two weapons he had taken from the arsenal the Archmagos had told him about. Those two weapons had originally been meant for Titan-class machines, which were much larger than Knights.
One was a stasis field shield device.
The other was a massive power greatsword with a long hilt.
(End of Chapter)
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