Hey, hurry up and detonate those things!
There aren't even any bikini babes here!
I want out of these waters already!
I'm going back to my mansion chock full of maids!
Okay, partner!
This is the fruit of our labor, from the two of us!
It... didn't sink.
Damn it all!
That Object bastard's still alive and kicking anyway!
What do we have to do to sink that thing?!
I want to chuck all the explosives I've got on me and go home already!
Miss Frolaytia!
Where have you been all this time?!
Or more like, where'd you find that lifeboat?!
Or more like, what's with the cheese?!
That looks tastier than the usual rations!
Good work.
You've finished your mission for the time being.
Finished?
You're not talking about the cheese? Or like, us?
I told you before, didn't I?
That you were to buy as much time as possible
until the Princess's Object showed up.
When you destroyed those tanks earlier, our role here was done.
Now, we just pass the baton to the Princess
and it's mission accomplished.
The rescue helo is on its way here.
All that's left is to grab onto the rope, get pulled up,
and it'll be a straight shot to the mainland.
Huh?
There's something...
Get up into the boat.
If you died after making it this far,
even my conscience would suffer some pangs.
Or more like, I'm going to succumb to the temptation
of wobbling upon being pulled up and parlaying that into a lucky perv event.
The way you're dressed!
Oh-ho?
Paradise at last, huh?
Not that it makes all this worth it.
Then don't look! But I'm looking!
Too bad. Time's up.
Huh?
Hey brother ready for this fight?
It's go for broke, live or die
ichi kabachu gonna live or die.
To those days of being scared and just coping, bye bye bye
obi e tearu sukosu take no kimini bye, bye, bye.
Don't stop! Plowing through bullets falling thick and fast
Don't Stop! kimi shiki e ru tangan kake wake
Get up! Brilliantly nail that 2-step
Get Up! asaya kare kimero 2-step
Shut Up! Stow that whining and try, try, try
Shut Up! maki moto nan kumimeru shimai konna try, try, try.
Right now, even if everyone and anyone and everything and anything...
i mata remo karemo waremo koremo
Look away and make a break for it
mewo somu kemi kena shite ne
You alone, I'll never abandon
yusu temo shinai kimi temi wai
Let's go, One more chance! Let's change this darn scene
Let's go, One more Chance! kae tearo kono scene
Right now, tens of thousands of times if need be
mana retse na makai demo
It's just about showing that I can overcome
nori koete miseru dake
Overcoming even those tears and that pain
shono nami namo sono mitsa mimo koeteru
Going on to that next, as yet unseen stage
daro mino tsuki no sutejie
That's right, as many times as it takes, one more try!!
sousa naben date one more try!
Let's go, One more chance! Show them that spirit
Let's go, One more Chance! mushi tereo sono spirit
Right now, tens of thousands of times if need be
mana retse na makai demo
I can just crawl my way there
haitsu kubate i kari
We believe, right?!
shin ji ten da ro?!
That pain will someday become strength that's there for someone
moi tami wai tsuka tawa e kai yasu yosari
That's right, we can make it happen, one more try!
sou saka te genzo one more try!
We're not gonna walk away!
Tom Thumb Races Through the Oil Field
The Battle of the Gibraltar Blockade II
Sorry.
We weren't of much use.
But seriously!
I'm amazed we survived again this time.
This should make the higher-ups rethink things.
In the end, Alaska was a fluke
and it doesn't change the fact that Objects are synonymous with war.
Things should probably get easier after this.
For both of you.
In a way, that makes me feel both happy and sad.
Hey, hold on.
Something doesn't look right with the Princess.
What the heck?
It's your typical earnest bout where you can't tell who's going to win.
No, Quenser is right.
The Princess's tempo of attack has dropped.
Even when the Tri-Core is in her sights,
it looks like she's missing those opportunities more and more.
What does this mean?
Look. That's it!
They're aiming at her gun barrels?
They've figured this'll be a drawn-out battle
and they've switched to a strategy of reducing the opponent's firepower.
In the case of a battle between Objects,
in order to penetrate each other's armor,
it requires multiple direct hits to the same location
with a weapon that can be classified as a main gun.
Even if they're equipped with a total of nearly 100 guns,
only the few main guns among them are effective against another Object.
But due to structural constraints,
those main guns are the one thing that can't be shielded with thick armor.
A few direct hits,
or even just a close-range strike, could damage them.
Ordinarily, hitting those main guns would be a tricky feat to manage,
but the enemy is specialized for naval warfare.
On top of which,
with it relying on its vast power output and firing indiscriminately...
If all her main guns get taken out like this, the Princess will...
She'll get killed by inches!
Another one!
Hey, hold on.
I feel like I'm starting to get a read on how your mind works,
but there's just no way that's possible.
At this rate, the Princess is going to get sunk.
We have to back her up
before the outcome of this battle becomes a foregone conclusion.
We grappled with this plenty already, remember?!
Even when we boarded them and blew up those humongous tanks,
that monster's still alive and kicking!
Up against something like that,
where can we set bombs now that'll do damage to that thing?!
But if we don't act now, the Princess will die!
We got that lesson beaten into us in Alaska, too, remember?!
Just what kind of hell the troops suffer when they lose their Object!
Have you forgotten? Objects aren't invincible.
Something that's manmade must always be
destructible by human hands!
Then, what do we do?
Even if we approached on this slowpoke helo,
we'd get shot down in no time and it'd be over.
I never said anything about going at it in the helo.
You idiot! Don't do it!
Damn it!
What the hell is that freaking idiot doing?!
You trying to drag us into this, too?!
What would you like to do?
Do we pick him up again?
Remain airborne as we are.
Now, then...
Somehow, I need to find a weakness for real this time.
A super-massive Object with a whopping three power reactors...
If there were some defect related to that, it'd make things simple, but...
What are you, an idiot?!
Like you could find one so easily!
We looked everywhere earlier and it was a waste of time!
That's an Object that was built solely for naval warfare!
As long as it's at sea, it's got no weak spots!
I know that! But...
Built for naval warfare...
But for all that...
I got this feeling earlier, too, but...
Its movements seem rather uninspired...
Like they're not very combat savvy...
Hold on a second...
Hey, wasn't that guy moving in a clockwise direction earlier, too?
Huh?
That's right...
Ever since the fighting started,
the Tri-Core has only turned in a clockwise direction.
They might apply thrust to vary their pace, but...
It's just like I thought!
I'm betting it hasn't made a wide counterclockwise turn even once.
An Object specialized for naval warfare
couldn't possibly be lacking such functionality!
It must be dealing with some kind of trouble.
Trouble? But I mean...
From what I can see, there don't seem to be any abnormalities.
Its floats and air cushions show no changes.
And it's perfectly maintaining its equilibrium.
At the very least, it's nothing I can confirm from here.
But there's definitely got to be something wrong with it.
In which case,
the anomaly is somewhere that can't be seen from the helo?
Underwater?!
Qwenthur?!
Hey, you!
Where do you think you're going?!
If you don't move away quickly,
you're going to cross paths with the Tri-Core's clockwise course!
That's why I'm swimming! I've figured out the Tri-Core's weakness!
This is crazy!
Come back, Qwenthur!
When that Sir Knight makes up his mind that he's saving the Princess,
there's no stopping him.
Havia?!
Here you go!
It's your white horse!
The windmill's coming!
Don't lose, Don Quixote!
My gratitude, Sancho Panza!
Here we go, Rocinante!
There it is.
The shark fin keel.
The lengths of the shark fin keels adjust to match the Tri-Core's tilt,
shifting its center of gravity,
so that the craft never flips over, no matter how fast it's going.
Now's my chance!
Logically speaking, they'd get more speed
if it didn't have such high-drag objects hanging off of it.
The fact that it still has them
means that they're indispensable to this guy!
But part of its functionality has been impaired
due to it becoming tangled up in the net of the Goal Tape.
Thanks to that, they can't go counterclockwise,
leaving them only capable of clockwise maneuvers!
Just one keel being impaired is this limiting to its mobility.
If I can at least disable one more, it'll likely...
If they still haven't detonated under these conditions,
they must be pressure sensitive.
And the fuses must be set to go off at a pretty high pressure at that.
There's been a rat race between sensor technology
and the technology used to counter and deceive those sensors,
and as a result, recent mines have supposedly come full circle,
going back to their simplest designs.
In which case, if I apply the pressure of an explosion at close range,
they should detonate for sure!
She took a hit!
One gun left...
All right! I've finished rigging things now...
Hey! Did you rig a shark fin keel with Hand Axe?!
You could say that.
I rigged it so it'd detonate the large mines tangled around it, too.
Hey! That's the strategy you charged in there with, all full of confidence?!
The Tri-Core's got thick armor to begin with!
Those puny mines won't have left so much as a scratch!
And it's not like causing them to detonate now
was going to break off one of those huge shark fin keels!
The Tri-Core!
Qwenthur!
Damn it! He's got the Tri-Core's attention for real now!
Get away somehow while the Princess keeps them off balance!
Princess!
With the explosives you had,
breaking off a shark fin keel was impossible to begin with!
No, you're wrong.
What?
What I wanted to blow up was the net that was stuck to the Object.
Objects weigh a mind-boggling amount under ordinary circumstances,
but the Tri-Core is a super-large-scale craft at nearly triple that size.
And that mass produces a phenomenal amount of kinetic energy.
If the shark fin keels that keep that in check become useless,
there will be a shifting of mass that shouldn't normally occur
and as a result, it'll put a strain on the Tri-Core itself!
That's right!
Just like how aikido uses even the opponent's own weight against them
to send a person flying!
Ha-hah! How do you like that?!
First, Alaska, and now, this makes two!
How many medals do I get for that?!
It's not over yet!
Hurry up and get away from there!
Huh?
The Tri-Core is already...
You're kidding... right?
I'm so dead!
Hey there.
How's it feel to be riding one of those Objects that you so idolize?
Getting to eat something like this,
as a living organism, I feel like I'm properly alive!
That's fine and all, but...
Miss Frolaytia, how about you not sit cross-legged wearing a pencil skirt?
Consider the feelings of your men sitting directly across from you.
You don't like it?
I'm going out of my way to give you an eyeful.
The seductiveness of the sexy zone
composed of the combination of black stockings and red underwear...
No, it's not as if it's enough for panties to simply be boldly visible.
There needs to be more of the charm of rarity, as it were...
The sense that it's an illicit glimpse ought to be a requirement, but...
Damn it all! Red?!
It's wet from the sea,
and the black stockings have some tears that highlight the pale skin...
I hate to admit it, but I still love it!
Now, then...
I feel sticky all over,
so this is where I'd like to get changed and feel refreshed...
I don't want to stay fishy-smelling like this anyway, so...
There's no shower room or anything here,
so you'll have no choice but to wait until we arrive at base.
But you see, that's not entirely true.
Damn it! This is the dreaded state of suspense!
Mm-hm, you're right. Yeah. What you said, Heivia.
What's with the halfhearted response?
You bastard! Don't tell me there's a gap in the sheet over there?!
Nope. No gap here.
Nothing of the sort at all.
Quenser,
My tolerance goes only so far as my underwear.
If you don't come clean,
we'll have to make use of the interrogation room, you know.
She knows!
Which means... You bastard! I knew it!
Knock it off!
Shut up! Move!
You're heavy!
Damn it...
The god of lucky pervs must hate me, after all.
Come on now, it's nothing to get that depressed about, is it?
Leave me alone.
A guy who got his fill of what he wanted
could never understand how I feel.
The Princess sure has it rough, too.
Yeah.
Ordinarily, it'd be a short hop via a transport plane,
but in order to transport the Object, she has to inch along by land and sea.
I suppose.
Well, according to one scholar of war studies,
there's even a theory that the wars we have going on now
are due to the means being mistaken for the end
as everyone tries to control the most efficient routes
to transport Objects, which are the most powerful military assets,
to battlefronts across the globe.
Straits are apparently particularly desirable.
What is this, the arrival of the Age of Discovery?
So, our exploits here are likely to receive quite a bit of recognition.
What?!
Like hell I'm going for another commendation ceremony.
Hey, now,
are you saying that, knowing the military's code of conduct?
You've got to be kidding me!
They can discharge me for all I care then!
If they need a reason, how about I jump you now, titan tits?!
Wrecking two whole Objects on our own should be more than enough!
When you get down to it,
I feel like Quenser did all the winning this time, though.
Fine! Sure! So I didn't get to see anything!
What are you saying?
I don't really understand, but come on, don't cry.
I'll stomp on you later, just like I promised.
Shut up...
Hey, good news. There apparently won't be a commendation ceremony.
Seriously?
Yes! We can go home!
Home? Who does?
Huh?
It looks like there's been some big movement in Oceania
in a military state that was keeping a low profile.
Now that you've wrecked two whole Objects,
it seems the higher-ups have really taken a shine to you guys now,
so they're personally requesting you by name.
You're to fly directly to Oceania from here
to do something about it.
Get real! Let me off! Damn it all!
There's no way we'll get lucky for a third time!
I'll hijack this damn helo, jumbo jugs!
I'm so sorry! I was being cocky!
I'll never pick a fight with another Object again, so please!
Damn jerks!
I do this all the time, putting myself at last.
itsudatte sou da jibun no koto atoma washi de
Thinking that as long as everyone else is happy everything's okay.
minna ga waratte yorokobu nara sore de jinda te
This isn’t anyone’s fault—things are just happening as they should
dareno sei demo nakute korega atari mai date
That's what i would i always tell myself
sou ikika sete i tanda
I'm not wrong to think this way, I'm not. That's what i always thought.
machi ga tenai machi ga tenai to omotteta noni
doushite konna kizudarake nandarou
But then why have I ended up so bruised and battered?
kimi dake wa nogasazu ni kidzuitetanda ne
You were the only one who noticed, not letting a single detail slip by
oshikoroshitekita kono chiisa na koe o
This tiny voice I’d been keeping subdued all this time
itsu kara darou soba ni itai to omottanda
When was it that I starting feeling I wanted to be by your side?
motsureta kokoro yasashiku hodoku you ni
It feels like my tangled heart is being gently unraveled
sashidasareta sono te no nukumori ni
When I brushed the warmth of that hand you extended to me
fureta toki ni kidzuitanda
It all became clear:
mou hitori janainda te
I’m not alone anymore.
The War of the Ant and the Grasshopper
The Invasion of the Oceanian Military State I