Vol 2 Chapter 5 (2/2)
“Ah, thanks!”
As she expressed her grat.i.tude, Tomoko turned her body and prepared to line up her next shot.
Her 7.7mm machine gun was not very effective against the Laros-kai, but they could eventually be brought down in flames by continually shooting the weak points. At first glance the Laros-kai was a difficult opponent, but it was not an undefeatable enemy so long as one remains calm.
With a skilful twist of her body, Tomoko out-maneuvred the pursuing aircraft and stole their backs.
“Just give up!” she yelled, sending a stream of bullets at the tail-plane of one of the enemy targets.
The machine gun bullets grazed the Laros-kai's surface with a *BaChi-BaChi. It was the sound of the bullets ricocheting off its metal armor.
I can't seem to hit its weak points! Why, why can't I aim properly?
The moment she asked herself this, the face of Itokawa surfaced in her mind.
Leaning in to kiss her...
Her heart was pounding.
'Wh, What am I doing!' she reprimanded herself.
This is not the time think about that incident. Not now, in the midst of a battlefield!
GaGaGaGaGaGa! A shock suddenly travelled through her body.
“Tomoko! Tomoko's been hit!”
“Eh? Eeh?” For a second or two, she was not able to grasp the situation.
Looking behind, the initial Laros-kai she had been trying to pin down had approached unnoticed from behind, and was ripping into her with its twin machine guns!
The bullets were accurately deflecting into Tomoko and tearing through her magic field.
“d.a.m.n it!”
Tomoko twisted her body, but couldn't control her maneuvre.
”Wh, Why can't I..!”
“You're emitting smoke!''” Beurling's voice came through once again.
Upon checking her Striker Unit, it was indeed fuming. The magic field protecting the body of the machine had been ripped through, and her Ki-27 was. .h.i.t.
“I, I can't turn!”
The tail rudder had clearly suffered damage.
This superior combination of Tomoko and her nimble Ki-27, had now had its mobility sealed, and been driven into a corner from which it could not escape.
“Why! Turn and evade!”
“I said I can't! Aaaah!”
Under continuous fire, the Striker Unit on her left leg finally gave in and exploded. At the same time F/O Elma and Ursula, who had came rus.h.i.+ng over to a.s.sist, managed to shoot down the Laros-kai, but it was already too late... Tomoko was already spiraling down towards the earth.
Tomoko would surely have crashed had her arm not been seized by Katherine, who's diving speed with the Buffalo outstripped anyone else's.
By this point, 1st Squadron had torn through the initial enemy squadron and came to join the fray. They began to break up the Laros-kai formation that was building on its momentum against Tomoko's group.
Having somehow escaped a crisis, the Independent Volunteer Squadron all rushed towards Tomoko's position.
“Tomoko! Are you alright?”
Tomoko nodded. Her own body had miraculously avoided serious injury, but on the other hand...
“My Ki-27...” Tomoko muttered feebly as she took in the tragic state of her favorite aircraft.
The unit from her left leg had been completely blown away, leaving her bare leg exposed. And the surviving right leg of the Striker Unit was also tattered from machine gun fire.
As the propeller driven by the amplified output of the magic engine ground to a halt with a sc.r.a.ping noise, the right leg of her Ki-27 took on a truly lifeless appearance. Staring at the machine that was now full of holes, Tomoko didn't even try to hold back her tears.
Because only one half of the Ki-27 remained, nothing could be done to repair it.
Deciding to dispose of it was the only practical choice.
It had been her favourite aircraft ever since the Fuso Sea incident. Upon losing it, Tomoko had returned to the base, and was reported to have hurried straight to her quarters.
Tomoko could not have been delivered a bigger shock than losing her prized aircraft.
She pulled her quilt up over her head, continuing to condemn herself without paying and heed to the concerned words of her comrades.
“How could I have been so preoccupied... I've failed as a mechanized air infantry pilot...”
Images of her Ki-27 and Itokawa's face floated around in her mind.
The Ki-27 Striker Unit, Type 97 Fighter...
With which she had shared all her joy, sorrow, and honor...
Which felt like an extension of her own body...
Which had now been lost due to her own negligence in battle.
“I don't have what it takes, to fly...”
Hiding away under the quilt with tears streaming down her face, Tomoko had fallen asleep before she knew it.
The members of the Independent Volunteer Air Squadron worriedly crowded around Tomoko's bed. But it was Katherine that took the initiative to speak.
“Tomoko. It's hopeless isn't it~ Like just now, saying she would quit the mechanized air infantry and stuff?”
Even though she was the quietest member, F/O Elma cried out. “At times like this, I think comrades should lend each other their strength!”
“That's for sure,” Beurling added.
“But, what should we do? I don't understand it~ Even if my Striker Unit was destroyed to that extent, I'd be alright, so how should we console Tomoko? I just don't understand. After all, it's just a tool right? I can't comprehend what's bothering her~”
“I think they say in the Orient, that spirits can also dwell within tools. That kind of emotional attachment is probably beyond what we can imagine.”
Beurling's comment left everyone speechless.
For a little while, silence permeated the room... until F/O Elma resolutely raised her hand into the air.
“What is it?”
“Umm... I, for a long time I've been thinking this. Moreover, I'm wondering if the time to put it into practice has come...”
“What are you talking about?”
F/O Elma gathered everyone around and began whispering conspicuously.
Hearing that, Katherine stared at her with wide eyes. “Flying Officer Elma, that's... are you serious?”
“I'm totally serious!” F/O Elma threw out her chest determinedly.
“well, I agree with you but... bringing it up at a time like this...”
With a worried expression on her face, Katherine's eyes travelled to the form of Tomoko wrapped up in the quilt.
“We should do it precisely because of a time like this! Because no matter what; our war potential is plummeting withFlying Officer Tomoko feeling down!”
Beurling nodded. “I also agree.”
“Beurling, you're being unexpectedly adventurous.”
“Eeh. As far as she's concerned, it might be a good chance to free herself from the t.i.tle of a mere ace.”
Katherine turned her attention to Ursula, who was sitting in a chair and reading.
“Hey Ursula, were you listening just now?”
Ursula gave a sharp little nod.
“What do you think?”
“Do as you please,” was all she had to say.
Katherine began tampering with Ursula's face by placing a hand on each side of her head and rubbing them around. “You're gonna live a long life aren't you~”
There was one more figure concernedly watching over Tomoko as she confined herself in depression.
Stealthily peering into the communal room from the hallway window, was Haruka.
“Aah, Pilot Officer Tomoko... looking so hurt... *sniff, If I'm lucky I might...”
While she was muttering to herself, a breath applied to her ear made Haruka contort her body in surprise.
“Ah...”
“You're a naughty girl aren't you? Who are you so worried about I wonder? Are you not a sister of 1st Squadron? Didn't I say that feelings of affection towards another group are not permitted?”
“Bu, but, but... Pilot Officer Tomoko became so... and I was worried... ah!”
She twisted her body once again. F/L Ahonen had let her hand slip into Haruka's uniform, and spread her fingers across her sensitive chest.
“Lieu, Lieutenaaant...”
“I told you to refer to me as 'big sister' didn't I? Look here. Look at me. You're my partner through and through right? Is looking away permitted?”
“I, I'm very sorry... big sis...”
“Not good enough. Who is your master? I shall firmly engrave it upon your body for you.”
F/L Ahonen's fingers slid up from underneath Haruka's short skirt. Skillfully seizing her trigger, Ahonen opened fire.
“Ah! Ah! Big sis... Forgive mnn! Please! Ah! Aauhh! I, I'm a bad girl! Aah!”
“Well now. Look at me! Was it your former leader, or someone else who taught you how to reply so well? Allow me to show you! Hoho! Ohohohohoho!”
Haruka's feeble voice begging for forgiveness, and F/L Ahonen's gentle laugh, no matter what, these sounds would be clearly audible to anyone inside.
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