アキラが再び屋根で警備を続けていると、ヒカルから連絡が入る。
「アキラ。司令部から、進行方向の先で落下物を確認したって連絡があったわ。一応注意して」
「了解。......この辺って、そういうのが落ちる所なのか? 危ないな」
東部の空には遺跡やモンスターなどが飛んでおり、それらが
ヒカルの態度から緊急性は感じられない。それでアキラも特に気にしなかった。
だがアルファは態度を変えた。普段の
『アキラ。警戒して』
『......了解。アルファ。そんなにヤバいのか?』
『多分ね』
情報収集機器に反応が表れる。反射的にその方向に視線を向けると、白い大型人型兵器が分厚い雲を突き破って落下していた。
機体がそのまま車両から少し離れた地面に激突する。何とか激突の衝撃を抑えようと、背中側の推進装置を地面の方に向けていたことで、周囲の細かな
としているアキラの前で、状況に更なる変化が現れる。余り明るいとは言えない曇りの光量が、日陰のように更に薄暗くなる。アキラが思わず顔を上げると、視界の先に天井が生まれていた。その天井の開口部からは黒い円盤が次々と射出されていた。
アキラが天井の正体を推測し、誰かに否定して欲しそうに
「......まさか、モンスター、なのか?」
『上空領域のモンスターが降りてきたのよ。アキラ。気合いを入れなさい。追い払うわよ』
アキラは聞きたくない言葉を聞いて我に返った。だが動揺は強く残っており、思わず顔をアルファの方へ向ける。普段は不審者とならないように気を付けているのだが、それを完全に忘れた動きだった。
見上げるモンスターの大きさは、その一台一台が十分巨大な都市間輸送車両で構成された車列の長さを超えていた。その巨体から生み出された影が車列を完全に覆っている。
険しさよりも驚きを強く出しているアキラに向けて、アルファが軽く笑う。
アルファの笑顔で幾分落ち着きを取り戻したアキラに、警備側からの指示が飛ぶ。
「全警備員に告ぐ! 周辺に出現した人型兵器を、全力を
『そういうことよ。アキラ。始めるわ』
バイクがアルファの操縦で動き出す。アキラもそれで余計な疑問や迷いを脇に置き、意識を再度戦闘に切り替えた。車両の屋根をバイクで高速で駆けながら両手の銃の照準を白い機体に合わせる。同時にバイクの汎用アームに装着している銃も動かして、同じ目標を狙う。
で一時的なレールを作り出し、それを滑らかな接地面にすることで、走行路を切り替えた時にも速度を殺さずに走行する。そのまま輸送車両を遮蔽物にして敵の射線を塞ぎながら距離を詰めていく。
『アキラ。次は刀を使うわ。今のうちに使い心地を試しておきましょう』
アキラが
『良いけど、今試すのか?』
アルファが楽しげに笑って聞き返す。
近付いて試したいの?』
アキラは苦笑を返した。そして右手の銃を
背のAF対物砲がアルファの操作で勝手に起動してアキラの前に現れる。アキラはそれを素早く握って構えると、照準を白い機体の胴体部分に合わせて引き金を引いた。
至近距離からのAF対物砲による銃撃だったが、それでも機体の破壊には至らなかった。だがその一撃で強く押され続け、白い機体が輸送車両の屋根から荒野へ一気に吹き飛ばされた。
『今ので倒せないのか!?』
脚部を失った状態で荒野に吹き飛ばされた白い機体が、胴体部の推進装置で車両に戻ろうとする。だがその前に黒い円盤に殺到され、ばらばらに切断されて荒野に飛び散った。その光景を見てアキラも納得する。
『付け加えると先に目標の脚を切り離したのは、そうしないと脚部の接地維持機能の
『車両や俺達もモンスターの攻撃目標になってるんじゃないのか?』
『いいえ。攻撃パターンから判断して、モンスターの攻撃目標はあの白い機体達だけよ』
『その割にはあの黒い円盤の
『それで、あの白い人型兵器の連中を何とかすれば、上のモンスター、あの多分機械系の馬鹿デカいやつは本当に何とかなるんだな?』
『恐らくあの防衛型は領空内で白い人型兵器の攻撃を受けたから、それを迎撃しているだけだと思うわ。だからそれらを破壊し終えたら帰るはずよ。多分ね』
『多分!? 多分なのか!?』
『私も相手の明確なロジックを知っている訳ではないの。絶対の保証は無理よ。帰還の判断をするのは向こうであって、私ではないからね。白い機体を排除し終えたら、帰ってくれる可能性が高い。それ以上の保証は出来ないわ』
アキラが気合いを入れ直して表情を引き締める。アルファがその様子に満足しながら、少し付け足す。
『所詮は間接的な行動しか出来ないことが不満なら、このバイクで上のモンスターの所まで上がっていって、円盤状の攻撃端末機の排出口から内部に侵入して、内側からの攻撃で撃破を目指すという選択肢もあるけれど、生還は絶望的よ? そっちの方が良い?』
『嫌だ!』
アキラが本当に嫌そうに答えて、その分だけ白い大型機排除の意欲を上げた。アルファは満足した。
に乗じて、更に接近しながら再び液体金属の刃を生成する。そのまま更に加速し、先ほどより倍以上長い刃を両手で上段に構え、相手の股下を通り抜けながら一気に振り下ろした。
発光する巨大な刃が斬りつける一瞬だけ刀身を崩壊させながら更に伸びて、敵機体を一刀両断する。アキラがその場を駆け抜けた後、左右に分かれた機体が屋根の上に転がった。
『アルファ。さっきのやつは脚からじゃなくて良かったのか?』
『そう?』
両断された機体に黒い円盤が殺到し、高速回転する刃で念入りに分解していく。その光景を見たアキラが
『両断程度じゃ撃破判定にならないのか? 随分念入りだな』
『破損状態よりも、自機側の攻撃による損傷を重視しているのかもね』
「全ての砲台は照準システムに影響が出た時点で使用を中止しろ! 絶対に上に撃つな! 上のデカブツに邪魔だと認識された時点で、車両ごと吹き飛ばされるぞ! 貨物の人型兵器の起動コードの方はどうなってる!」
「要請してますが、まだです!」
指揮官の男が顔を
「クソッ。どっちだ? 認証コードの生成からやってるから時間が掛かっているだけか、この期に及んで出し渋ってるのか......。とにかく急がせろ!」
貨物部には多数の人型兵器が積み込まれている。だがその
その貨物部に、シロウ達が立っていた。付き添いのハーマーズが軽く頭を抱えている。
「シロウ。本当にやるのか? 幾ら緊急事態とはいえ、略奪手前の所業なんだがな」
「緊急事態を理由に全てを許してしまえば、秩序が根底から崩壊する。緊急事態だからこそ、略奪などしない秩序が必要なんだ」
だと分かっているが、状況の緊急性を考えれば、理解も出来てしまうからだ。
「あ、一応言っておくけど、あんたが今から外に飛び出して、外の連中を蹴散らしてくれるって言うのなら、俺もこんな
「......分かった。やれ」
「オッケー。許可は取ったぞー?」
シロウは楽しげに笑うと、自身の力を存分に発揮した。
僅かな間は、何も起こらない。少なくとも素人目には何の変化もない。だが周辺の情報セキュリティシステムに対しては多大な変化が起こっていた。そしてその結果が
めく。指揮官の男がその対応指示を出す前に、ハーマーズから通信が入る。
「坂下重工警備部所属のハーマーズだ。貨物部の異常はこちらで対応する。御理解を」
めながらも、文句は飲み込んだ。
「......いや、この非常時だ。協力なら感謝する」
「すまんね。細々とした苦情は、後でそちらの上から坂下の方へ出すように頼む。そっちから俺
ハーマーズとの通信が切れる。シロウ達の所業は輸送車両の警備条項に山ほど触れているが、指揮官の男は坂下重工の仕業という名目で全ての責任を上に押し付けると決めて、現場としては柔軟に対処すると決めた。
ハーマーズは指揮官の男にお互い所属と規律に縛られる者として同情と申し訳なさを感じながら、それらの規律等に悪い意味での柔軟な対処に抵抗感のない者へ視線を向けた。そしてその柔軟な対応を許される能力を再度目の当たりにして複雑な思いを浮かべる。
シロウは坂下重工所属の旧領域接続者だ。坂下重工から高度な専門の訓練を受けており、各種工作を含んだ情報処理に極めて
その上でシロウは坂下重工が各地の遺跡から収集した情報を基に情報セキュリティ訓練を積んでいた。本来ならば坂下重工の専用施設から一歩も出したくない重要人物だ。今回の外出は特例だった。
ハーマーズが無人機として出撃していく人型兵器に視線を移す。
「......初期状態の自動戦闘システムじゃ、新兵未満の働きしか出来ないんじゃないか?」
「そこは搭乗者がど素人同然だったとしても、機体の性能に物を言わせて頑張ってもらうってことで。まあ、こいつらも、
「知らんな。部屋に戻るぞ」
シロウ達が部屋に戻っていく。帰り際、シロウは飛び出していく機体の方をちらっと見て、この備えが役に立つことを願った。
すら撃退する威力で白い大型機を撃破する。その砲台が黒い円盤機に通行の邪魔という程度の感覚で破壊される。ハンター達が大型機を撃破しようと奮闘し、大型機が応戦する。天井からは定期的に光線が降り注ぎ、大型機を破壊し、輸送車両に被害を与えていく。
そこにシロウが起動させた大量の無人機が加わる。無人機は車両と頭上とハンター達を攻撃しない程度の判断はしているが、白い機体と黒い円盤機の攻撃の区別までは出来ず、どちらにも攻撃を加えている。黒い円盤機も無人機を邪魔と
Akira once again went up to the rooftop for his usual escort routine when Hikaru suddenly called him.
"Akira, this is from the HQ. It seems that something just fell over ahead of you, so you should be careful."
"Roger that... Is it normal for things to be falling out from the sky around here? That's pretty dangerous."
The sky of the eastern district was inhabited by monsters, so it was pretty normal for stuff to be falling from the sky. Although they were sometimes valuable relics, they were still a danger to those on the ground. Thus, transport routes tend to avoid such dangerous areas. Hikaru, who knew that, found it a little bit strange, but she did not dwell on it any further.
Judging from Hikaru's attitude, it did not seem to be that dangerous, so Akira did not worry about it too much.
But that was not the case for Alpha. Her usual smile suddenly turned serious. It was as if the current situation was worse than that battle against the giant bug swarm.
"Akira, get ready for a fight."
"...Alright, Alpha. Is it something bad?"
"Most likely."
The radar picked up a signal and when Akira turned in the direction of that signal, he could see a white powered suit fall through the thick cloud, plummeting to the ground.
Since it was trying to soften the crash by pointing its booster toward the ground, it blew away all the smaller rubble right under it.
Akira was still confused by the sudden change of event when suddenly more were coming. The greyish cloud on top of the convoy turned even darker. When Akira looked up into the cloud, he could see something solid. It was similar to a floating ceiling, which kept on ejecting out more black disks from its mouth-like gate.
Akira made a quick guess as to the identity of that thing and wished someone would rebuke him as he mumbled.
"...Don't tell that thing is a monster."
"That's one of the monsters living high in the sky. Akira, Let's get to work. We need to repel that thing."
Akira quickly returned back to himself the moment he heard something that he did not want to hear. But it did not erase his shock as he immediately turned to Alpha. Of course, normally that was a very strange reaction for others, but he had completely forgotten about that thanks to how taken back he was.
Every single one of the monsters up in the sky was even bigger than the inter-transport vehicle. The transport convoy was fully covered beneath their shadows.
Alpha lightly smiled at Akira who looked at her with surprise rather than worry.
Seeing that smile, Akira regained most of his calm. Suddenly, there was an order coming from the HQ.
"To all personnel!! Shoot down all the powered suits!! Or at least get them away from the convoy!! They're the reason why those monsters came down here! So, destroy them as fast as you can!"
"Yep, so there, you have it. Akira, let's get to work."
Akira's bike started moving, it was Alpha who was controlling it. Akira immediately understood what she meant as he banished all the questions in his mind and focused on the incoming fight. He took aim toward the white powered suit using the rifle on both of his hands as the bike ran through the rooftop. Meanwhile, the rifle fixed on the bike's arm was also taking its aim toward the same target.
Akira used that opening to jump off the rooftop and landed on the ground. The forcefield armour projected a rail-like platform the moment the tires left the rooftop. This allowed it to land smoothly on the ground without much loss in momentum. After he landed, Akira used the transports as cover as he quickly closed the distance to his target.
"Akira, we'll use the blade next. So, let's get a good feeling of the blade while we have the chance."
Akira frowned.
"Sure, but are we going to test it now?"
Alpha smiled and replied.
"Well, will you normally try to get close to another enemy just to use it?"
Akira smiled bitterly. He then exchanged the rifle in his right hand with a blade handle. There was no blade extending out from that handle.
The AF anti-material cannon on Akira's back unfolded on its own thanks to Alpha and it extended out in front of Akira. He quickly grabbed the cannon, aimed at the white powered suit's torso, and pulled the trigger.
Although it was an AF cannon point-blank shot, that was not enough to completely destroy the white powered suit. But even so, that shot was enough to blow the white powered suit away from the transport convoy and into the wasteland.
"Even that was not enough, huh!?"
Akira then saw the white powered suit that had lost both of its legs, only with a damaged booster on its back, trying to get back to the convoy just to get shredded to pieces by the black discs. He then gave a slight nod.
"If I have to add, we aimed for its leg first since it would have been difficult to push it away from the convoy while it has its sticky contact leg fixed on the vehicle, you see. Well then, let's hurry up, otherwise, the other transport vehicles would get destroyed first."
"Isn't that monster now actively attacking us too?"
"Nope, judging from its attack pattern, I believe that it's still chasing for the rest of the white powered suits."
"Those black disks left the transport vehicle badly damaged like this, had I still stayed there, I would have died, wouldn't I?"
"So, basically, if we can drive those white powered suits away, that huge mechanical monster up there would leave us, right?"
"My guess is that that monster is only chasing after those white powered suits because it received an order to do so. It should just leave once it accomplishes its order. Maybe."
"Maybe!? It's just a guess!?"
"It's not like I know exactly its behavioural logic, so I can't make any promises. After all, in the end, it's not up to me to decide when it should leave. What I can tell you is that there's a good chance it'll leave us alone once it has destroyed all the white powered suits."
Akira recollected his focus and got himself ready for the next fight. Alpha who saw that seemed satisfied.
"Well, if you don't like taking your chance like this, we can try to go up there with this bike, go pass through that mouth, and destroy it from the inside, you know? Although, it's unlikely that you'll survive. Do you prefer that instead?"
"No thanks!"
Akira frowned; it was obvious that he really hated that idea. But thanks to that, his motivation toward destroying the white powered suits received a boost and Alpha was happy with that result.
As Akira rode toward his next target, he closed the distance while evading the incoming barrage of bullets. Using the 4 LEO multi-rifle simultaneously, he shot down another white powered suit's arm. While the targeted white powered suit was teetering, trying to keep its balance which made it difficult to handle the huge weapon that it had, Akira closed their distance and once again took out his blade. He then accelerated the bike even more and passed under the white powered suit.
The glowing blade consumed all of its liquid metal in one swing to extend the height of the blade and cut the white powered suit cleanly into two. After Akira passed under it, the powered suit tumbled over, split into two distinct sides.
"Alpha, was that okay? We did not cut its legs first."
"Are you sure?"
The sliced open powered suit was then ripped to pieces by the black disks. Akira who saw that frowned and thought.
"So, even after being bisection, it is not enough to recognize them as already destroyed? I guess that monster just wants to be extra sure, right?"
"Or it might want to destroy all its target by its own attack."
"Turn off all the cannons affected by the aiming system!! Don't shoot up! That monster will blow up the transport vehicle the moment it recognizes one of us as an obstacle!! What's going on with the activation code for the powered suits in the hangar!?"
"We already sent a request but still no response!"
The guy who was acting as the commander frowned.
"Dammit! Are they working on regenerating a new code or they're hesitating to send the code...? Just tell them to hurry up!"
Although the hangar was filled with powered suits, all of them were merchandise, so the escort team did not have the right to use them. They might be able to use them right away if they paid for them, but the paperwork prevented the escort team from doing that, hence the guy was irritated.
Shirou and his escorts were also inside the hangar at the moment. Hammerz, who was together with him, rubbed his head.
"Shirou, are you sure we're doing this? Although it's an emergency, this is borderline criminal, you know?"
"If you think that everything is allowed just because it is an emergency, it'll definitely destroy public order, it's exactly because we're in an emergency that we can't resort to crimes, you know?"
Hammerz sighed. He knew that it was nothing but an excuse, but it was also completely understandable considering the current dire situation.
"Ah, just to let you know. If you're saying that you'll go out there and destroy them, then there won't even be a need for me to do this, you know?"
"...I know, just do it already."
"Alright, I have your approval then."
Shirou smirked and used the full extent of his power.
After a short time, there seemed to be nothing happening. Or at least, that was the case from an amateurs' point of view. But in reality, there was a huge change in the security system in that area. Because of that, something finally started to happen.
The officer responsible for watching over the hangar was shocked, but before he could give an order, Hammerz suddenly called him.
"This is Hammerz from Sakashita Heavy Industry. We'll handle the abnormality inside the hangar on our own, so please forgive us for the trouble."
The officer quickly understood what might have been going on and held himself back from making any complaints. Though he was obviously displeased.
"...No, it's fine. We're thankful for your help in this situation."
"Thank you and sorry. You can forward any complaints later to Sakashita Heavy Industry. After all, even if you send that complaint to me, it's not like I can do anything about it, you see."
Hammerz then closed the call. Although what Shirou did there was in violation of many security rules, the officer decided to grant him some leeway and planned to pin the responsibility onto Sakashita Heavy Industry.
Hammerz could sympathize and felt sorry for that officer since both of them were bound by their position and their affiliation. He then turned his gaze toward a boy who completely interpreted that compromise in a bad way. He felt conflicted as he saw the power that caused such a security compromise to be possible.
Shirou was an old-world connector affiliated with Sakashita Heavy Industry. Due to the rigorous training from Sakashita Heavy Industry, he was able to do all kinds of tricks including hacking.
Moreover, Shirou was trained by Sakashita Heavy Industry using the information harvested from many different old-world ruins. Normally, Sakshita Heavy Industry would never let such a person out, but this was a special case.
Hammerz shifted his gaze toward the unmanned powered suits.
"...If I'm not mistaken, the original autopilot system can only mimic amateurs, right?"
"Even if they are, the quality and the ability of the powered suits would do the hard lifting. Well, either way, it's better that they get out there and get destroyed in the battle instead of being sitting ducks inside the hangar just waiting to be destroyed together with the whole transport vehicle, no?"
"I don't really care. To be honest, let's just return back to the room."
Shirou then returned back to his room. But before that, he glanced at the powered suits that were flying out the hangar and hoped that they would at least be useful out there.
The transport convoy was quickly enveloped in an intense battle. The cannons on top of the transport vehicles that could even make quick work of a colony-sized giant bug swarm were used to shoot down the white powered suits. Black disks flew around, ripping everything in their way including the transport vehicles. The Hunters were doing their best to destroy the white powered suits and naturally, the white powered suits fought back. White pillars of light came down from time to time, evaporating the white powered suits as well as the transport vehicles that were hit by that ray.
The unmanned powered suits activated by Shirou were then thrown into the mix as well. Although they were able to recognize the Hunters and did not shoot them, they could not differentiate between the white powered suits and the black disks. Thus, they attacked them both. The black disks soon recognized the unmanned powered suits as hostile and started ripping them to pieces.
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
非公開