"Report!"
"Come in."
Opening the monotonous, metallic door.
Jack strode into the operations command room.
In the not-so-spacious room, aside from the various staff officers busy in the distance, there were only five people where he stood:
Two human pilots and one armed automaton pilot—their uniform styles were identical to Jack's, but with significant differences in color scheme and detailed design. Of course, the biggest difference was the rank: two Lieutenant Colonels and one Colonel, two full ranks higher than ordinary TSF pilots.
Standing ramrod straight before the three pilots were Major General Karl, the overall commander of the TSF Wing whom Jack knew well, and an old man who wasn't in military uniform and looked more like a researcher.
"Lieutenant Jack?"
"Yes, sir!"
Major General Karl asked with a hint of a smile as Jack entered. As for the others around, neither their expressions nor their demeanor showed the slightest fluctuation.
"Very good."
Picking up a file from his desk and glancing at it, Major General Karl casually handed the thin stack of papers to the old man beside him, then spoke to Jack.
"Long story short."
"The three beside you are pilots of the VF Squadron."
Listening to the commander's explanation, Jack nodded with a look of understanding.
"From now on, you will be formally assigned to the VF Squadron. Hmm, no need for questions. The other five VF fighter pilots have already been sacrificed."
"No."
"Actually, the number of pilots sacrificed is 11. Of the replacements before you, 3 died during VF pilot training, and 3 were sacrificed when their cockpits were hit."
"..."
Major General Karl stated the terrifying facts with stark directness.
The training alone carried the risk of sacrificing ace pilots; the difficulty of piloting a VF-model fighter far exceeded Jack's imagination.
Or perhaps.
There was some unspeakable secret involved.
"Do you wish to refuse?"
"No, sir!"
"Very good."
Major General Karl nodded again.
In this war, death was no longer of much consequence. The opportunity to soar through the sky piloting a VF-model fighter was a temptation that no pilot could refuse.
"As for the rest."
"...Allow me to explain."
The old man beside Major General Karl took over.
At the same time.
A massive image was projected onto the wall in front of Jack.
"This is the latest Variable Fighter jointly completed by the Quantum Laboratory and the Fluid Dynamics Laboratory: the VF-X 'Durandal'."
Prototype
"Hmm…"
"The 'X' doesn't mean tenth generation; our research speed isn't that fast."
"However."
"Because the Quantum Laboratory's energy generation and existing reserves have been occupied by a certain experiment, if nothing unexpected happens, this will indeed be the last model of VF fighter."
A hint of regret was in the old man's words.
"The four you will be piloting are all the VF-X units we have."
"The lead unit, 'Durandal'; the second unit, 'Messiah'; the third unit, 'Chronos'; and, young man… 'Siegfried.' This one is your machine."
"Of course."
"That's on the premise that you can survive the pilot training."
As he said this, the old man glanced at Jack's face: a young man whose expression remained unchanged even when life and death were on the line was, all in all, a satisfying sight.
"Four VF-X units, with a maximum take-off weight exceeding 200 tons—as pilots, you should be perfectly clear what that figure means."
"That's right."
Seeing the looks of astonishment on the four pilots' faces, the old man nodded happily.
"All weapons used by the VF-X have undergone quantum modification. And its current ordnance capacity… is enough for you to single-handedly take out any Emperor-class Honkai Beast in perfect condition. Remember, any one."
"And the objective of this mission…"
"Whoosh!"
The image of the VF-X quickly disappeared from the projection screen. The new data showed several extremely unique Temple-class Honkai Beasts.
And they were…
"According to the data provided by the Flame-Chasers."
"These four 'Temple-class' Honkai Beasts, which possess Emperor-class combat power, are likely intimately related to the existence of the 'Black Emperor.' Based on the intelligence we've obtained regarding the 'Black Temple,' we can infer that if left unchecked, these four Temple-class beasts are highly likely to evolve into existences similar to the 'Black Emperor'."
"Even now."
"They have already posed a massive threat to us on the battlefield."
"The objective of this mission is very simple."
"The four of you will pilot the VF-X and simultaneously carry out a decapitation strike against the four Temple-class Honkai Beasts. Four full-strength TSF squadrons will coordinate with you… all of them are already prepared for sacrifice."
This was the daring of Mu Continent.
The entire command center, no, the entire remaining TSF force on Mu Continent consisted of less than 10 squadrons. This operation was committing nearly half of them as bait, all for the sake of successfully assassinating these four "Temple-class" Honkai Beasts.
The very definition of sinking the boats to force a last stand.
As for what came after…
"That is all."
The old man's explanation was simple. Detailed tactical planning and operational guidelines were not his job as a researcher.
The VF series was a work into which he had poured countless efforts.
But the role of these high-end weapons was limited to decapitation strikes. What could truly turn the tide, no, what could salvage this losing battle, still depended on the results of the joint research initiated by the Mass-Energy Laboratory and conducted by the three major labs.
"Alright."
"Don't feel any psychological burden."
Major General Karl took over the conversation again.
"Rest well today. Starting from midnight, you will undergo 12 hours of special pilot training. After that—"
"BWOOM!"
"BWOOM!"
Before the Major General could finish, a loud alarm suddenly blared throughout the command room!
"General!"
A radar operator with a face full of shock burst in from the door.
Even the adjutant who followed closely behind, whom Major General Karl had always admired, had lost his usual composure.
"This is bad! Gen—"
"What's all the fuss about? Where is your decorum!?"
The reprimand was clearly effective.
"General."
Glancing at the "visitors" beside the general, the adjutant finally regained his normal state.
"At a distance of 61,000 meters from the command center, we have detected a giant flying object with a diameter of approximately 1,100 meters rapidly approaching!"
"1 kilometer… an unrecorded, super-massive Honkai Beast?"
"No!"
The adjutant quickly negated Major General Karl's guess.
"It's a meteorite."
"Clatter!"
A water glass unconsciously fell to the floor.
"General."
Seeing Major General Karl's unprecedented expression, the adjutant also swallowed hard, continuing his explanation without waiting for a question:
"By the time the radar detected it…"
"It had already crossed the Kármán line."