One missile after another lifted into the sky, tearing through the air at extreme speed as they streaked toward the horizon ahead.
At the same time, the main guns on every warship had already begun firing.
With orange flashes blazing, shell after shell dragged near-orange tails across the sky. To the untrained eye, it almost looked like laser fire.
Tessa knew exactly why it looked like beams of light: the shells were moving so fast that they heated up from air friction, glowing red-hot, even flaring as they burned.
Like meteors, drawn in by Earth's gravity, leaving luminous trails as they tear through the atmosphere at high speed.
Beyond conventional gunfire, Tessa also noticed electromagnetic railgun shots. Those launches looked even more like oversized energy beams.
Then the aircraft began to rise as well, one after another.
And the livestream's perspective was a god's-eye view centered on the woman named A2, so it was impossible to miss what Ms. A2 was doing.
She had boarded a fighter, the same transformable aircraft Tessa had seen before.
Not only Ms. A2, but also Mr. Golden Toilet. He was piloting one as well. And on the other side, the android woman named 2B was flying one too.
As the three of them took off, ten more aircraft followed behind them, forming what looked like a flight.
Yes, it was a flight, because other flights were visible as well.
From this viewpoint alone, Tessa could observe ten separate fighter flights. That meant at least over a hundred aircraft were being committed to the battle.
And beyond the same model A2 was using, there were other types of aircraft too: some resembled bombers, and there were also far more miniature swarms of tiny craft—drones, most likely.
So what exactly had happened?
Why was there suddenly a massive war?
Most likely, Mr. Golden Toilet—who knew some critical intelligence about this world's future—had warned them of something significant, prompting the androids to launch a major offensive to prevent a disastrous scenario from unfolding.
And the enemy was clearly the Machine Lifeforms.
A war between androids created by humanity, and Machine Lifeforms created by aliens. It really was an oddly delicate irony.
Suddenly, one blazing fireball after another erupted along the horizon. The engagement had begun.
At the same time, dense clusters of specks appeared ahead—enemy missiles, or flying Machine Lifeforms.
There were also beam-like strikes coming in—enemy gunfire.
So from A2's viewpoint, still not far out yet, it was possible to see towering water plumes erupting behind them as the sea was hammered by incoming fire.
Very quickly, those dense specks resolved into their true forms. Most of them really were flying Machine Lifeforms.
As far as the eye could see, they formed a thick, crawling carpet across the sky—dense enough to trigger trypophobia.
"What kind of flight propulsion system is that?"
Tessa found herself wondering about the power source behind these flying machine organisms. They moved with an agility reminiscent of fish swimming through water. Could this be some form of anti-gravity technology?
But she did not have time to pursue the thought. The battle had already escalated into a white-hot storm, and it seized her full attention.
In an instant, the Machine Lifeforms unleashed dense laser fire and launched a barrage of energy spheres. With fewer aircraft on this side, if they tried to trade ammunition head-on, they would only die faster.
So, aside from necessary interception—firing munitions to counter incoming threats—the android side was almost entirely "walking a tightrope," weaving through the dense curtains of fire.
Once they plunged into the mass of Machine Lifeforms, their weapon systems began to pour out devastation.
In the blink of an eye, fireworks bloomed across the sky.
"Just from the strength they're showing like this… if that happened back in our world…"
Tessa abruptly imagined how catastrophic it would be, and how long they could possibly hold.
To be frank, even if all the nations on her side combined their strength, it likely would not match either side of the war she was watching now—at least not by the scale of military power currently on display.
Of course, if her world used certain black-technology assets and escalated to nuclear weapons, it might end in mutual destruction.
After all, the technological level of the androids and the Machine Lifeforms did not look so absurd as to casually deploy full-spectrum defensive shields everywhere.
Still, Tessa did not believe either side lacked superweapons.
…
"Units 4, 7, and 11 have been shot down. All remaining units, re-form into Plan C formation."
A female voice sounded through the support system inside 2B's fighter—her communications operator, 6O.
Based on the battlefield data from her side, 6O was providing guidance.
Plan C formation meant that the surviving aircraft in her flight would reassemble into a new pattern, each one covering another's back, so that no one's rear arc would be exposed to enemy fire.
With mutual fire support like that, they could strike the flying Machine Lifeforms attacking from all directions.
The aircraft that had been shot down were not being piloted by YoRHa units. And the fighters themselves were not YoRHa's dedicated models either—they were outdated machines.
On this battlefield, only her aircraft, Mr. Kain's, and A2's were YoRHa fighters.
And among the YoRHa-type androids present, there were only her and A2 at Mr. Kain's side.
As for why more YoRHa units and advanced fighters were not coming to reinforce them—there were, of course, higher-priority missions elsewhere.
In fact, Commander White had wanted more YoRHa units here to protect him. And now, with most YoRHa units aware of the truth, they also wanted to come protect him.
But after calculating the requirements, they concluded that if they wanted to seize the target territory, YoRHa's strength was best committed there, not spent guarding him.
So Mr. Kain refused their protection.
When they first entered the battle, 2B had been extremely anxious about him. But in practice, he was not inferior to her at all.
It looked like her and A2's "protection" was unnecessary.
And judging by how increasingly at home Mr. Kain seemed to be, with his kill count rising rapidly, he would likely surpass them soon.
At that point, they might end up being protected in return.
In a flash, when the aerial defense net formed by the dense swarms of flying Machine Lifeforms was torn open into a massive gap—
"Sea-surface 'Fireworks' operation has begun. All units, provide escort and be careful not to be caught in the 'fireworks' bloom."
Operation "Fireworks"?
Through the display, 2B saw camouflaged special-purpose ships farther behind the main fleet drop their stealth and launch enormous missiles.
Then she looked up toward the inland sky beyond the coastline, less than ten kilometers away. Points of light were beginning to appear up there.
Orbital "Fireworks" operation had begun as well.
"Fireworks" had started deploying!
(End of Chapter)
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