It looks like they only want to mess with things
as payback for the heavy damage the Bright Hopper took.
I get the sense
that all rationality and the like have gone out the window for them.
I'm thinking they'll blow up the dam, no matter what the situation is.
Unless someone goes to stop them by force.
Havia, I want to discuss something with you.
I was just getting into the mood for a somewhat serious talk myself, Qwenthur.
I'll do something about the dam.
I'll take care of the Object on my end.
--I'll leave things over there to you! --I'll leave things over there to you!
Now, then...
Good.
Elite Princess, do you read me?
Change of plans.
Take the Baby Magnum over to support Qwenthur.
Qwenthur's all right?
Yeah, he's with Miss Frolaytia, having a grand old time.
Give me the location intel!
S-Scary...
Son of a bitch!
So, they're already prepping it to blow.
Three-Legged Mountain-Climbing Is Life-and-Death
The Artillery Battle in the Iguazu Mountains III
Be quiet. I'm on your side.
There's a military force trying to blow up this dam.
I won't let them do anything of the sort, but...
Evacuate for now.
To as high a place as you can get.
Talk about egocentric, huh?
When it's the Legitimate Kingdom fighting on both sides...
But we've got to at least repay them for the gift they sent us home with.
Hey, Qwenthur.
I sent the Princess your way.
I've set you up to be in seventh heaven with the ladies,
so would you at least lend me your ear for a bit?
I might be able to work out the Object's whereabouts
based on the transmission location of radio signals.
Keep it brief for me.
There are stories that if you open one small hole in a dam,
the rest'll all collapse at once from the water pressure,
but how is it in reality?
It's definitely possible, but...
Putting a crack in a thick wall meant to hold back that much water?
That would take a lot.
There's a more efficient way to go about it.
What way is that?
Even dams get scrapped when they grow dilapidated.
They're built from the start on the assumption that they'll be destroyed.
The dam will already have a number of checkpoints,
so this method involves blowing them up to trigger a building implosion.
How many of those checkpoints are there? And where?
It'll vary depending on the design of the dam.
That was useless! Damn it!
Whether it's got twenty or thirty,
unless all the checkpoints are blown up,
it won't lead to the demolition of the dam.
In other words,
you're good as long as you can disable even just one of the bombs.
So, in the end, I have to search randomly?
I've already found one.
Uh, but how do I dismantle it?
It's on the wall of the dam.
So, what? Tie on some rope and jump like I'm in some action flick?
How about you jam it?
Jam it?
Right before they blow up the dam, Bilany and her people
should move away from the dam and head for safe high ground.
In that case, they'll probably be using a radio detonation device.
Makes sense.
That should let me buy some time.
Damn it! It's wired for detonation!
Jamming will be pointless with these!
Then you'll just have to sever the connection.
Shoot it!
What if I sever it with a bullet and that sets it off?
It'll be fine. Those won't be detonating cords.
How can you know that?!
On this mission, the timing of the Baby Magnum's bombardment will be key.
Our product keeps getting recalled due to accidental detonations.
No one trusts it.
It might be wired for detonation,
but those will be transmission cables for an electrical ignition.
Damn it! If you're wrong, I'm coming to haunt you as a ghost!
Is that Bilany Saronna?!
Son of a bitch! She's actually pretty good-looking!
Corporal Saronna,
we'll form separate squads to get him from above and below.
If necessary, we'll deal with him as a traitor.
Go ahead and shoot-to-kill.
Talk about a wholesale leak.
Will you require rocket launchers for support?
Damn it all! They just have to keep making things harder for me!
Okay, this way!
Damn it!
Private First Class Havia Winchell!
Put down your weapon and surrender!
We are Legitimate Kingdom military, as are you,
and we do not think it right that we should kill each other, either!
Liar! You were clearly totally ready to kill me!
Hasn't she realized that I can hear the same military transmissions as her?
A clumsy cutey and an aloof softy?
It's making me want to kill her...
...even less.
What is the matter?!
If you do not respond, I could view your silence as your answer!
Corporal Bilany Saronna!
The Baby Magnum has already been sent to Qwenthur,
the student abroad on deployment
currently studying with the 37th Mechanized Maintenance Battalion!
I tell you now that destroying the dam here will do nothing!
Is that your final answer?!
If we do not perceive a willingness to give up fighting,
we will have no choice but to shoot you dead!
That's not it!
If Qwenthur and them destroy the Object
before you bastards blow up the dam,
it means that your justification for causing a massive flood
really won't exist anymore!
Our opponent is a monster
that heavily damaged the cutting-edge Bright Hopper from 500 klicks away!
And you claim that they can do something about it?!
Damn straight!
Which is why I'm going to buy them time until they do.
I'm going to start firing away now,
but you better not do anything like accidentally drop dead!
The sound is reverberating...
Is it the route to the right?
It sounds that way.
We only get one chance.
Of the three routes, where to lay in ambush...
I'm letting the Baby Magnum know.
You're good with the route to the right?
No...
These aren't just simple echoes among the mountains...
It's the Baby Magnum!
The Baby Magnum is approaching to get ready to attack
and that's caused the two drive noises to become intermixed!
There's no time left.
We won't be able to secure the time the Baby Magnum needs
to hide for a sneak attack.
If she's discovered,
the high-power rail gun puts a hole in her, straight through the mountain.
Three possible routes...
Two of us here...
Let's split up.
If the Break Carrier passes by either of us, then... Bingo!
If neither of us has the winner, then the last route is the correct one.
You take the left route, Miss Frolaytia.
The tunnel up a ways from here
will get you to the other side of the mountain.
It looks like there's an electric slide lift installed in there,
so it shouldn't take more than a couple minutes.
What about you?
I'll remain here, on the middle route.
No, I can't authorize that.
What can you do on that leg if you run into the Object?
I should've known you'd say no.
I'm so sorry. The truth is, I can't take any more on this leg.
Would you mind getting me that branch on the ground over there?
I'll stabilize my ankle with it.
I swear...
That bastard!
I'll take my sweet time knocking you to the floor later,
so just you remember this!
Honestly! I swear...
This is the Baby Magnum.
Qwenthur, come in.
Havia, Qwenthur isn't responding.
Does this mean that the two of them are having a grand old time?
This is no time to be cracking jokes!
I've also got...
...other things...
...to deal with!
I don't know which of the three routes I should wait at.
I guess, for now, I can wait on the right route,
which has a mountain I can hide behind.
D-Damn it...
Now, my other leg is also...
I won't be able to move any more at this rate.
Anyway, I can't run from the Object.
It won't be a problem as long as I get accurate intel to the Princess
on the whereabouts of the Mass Driver Conglomerate's Object.
Right now, that's all I need to think about.
It's coming!
The middle route!
So, this was the winner...
It's huge...
That's the Break Carrier...
By the looks of it,
it doesn't seem to have any stealth-type features, but...
I have to get the location intel to the Princess...
Damn it! Did it break from the impact when I fell?
Damn it all!
Anything I can do, I'll do it!
I know that this thing can't bring down an Object.
Don't get noticed.
If they realize what I'm trying to do, it's all over.
This is...
...an extremely simply coded communication using 0s and 1s?
"Object. Middle route. Point 391."
"Passing through."
"Immediately prep fixed base plasma cannon."
The tunnels!
I'm finishing this!
I won't let you chase around Qwenthur and the others anymore!
Do you get what that was just now, Corporal Bilany Saronna?
It was the giant firework celebrating our victory!
This is the Baby Magnum.
Destruction of enemy Object confirmed.
This battle is over.
I repeat, the Object has been destroyed.
Did you hear that?!
We were able to destroy the dangerous Object!
This dam doesn't belong to us to begin with!
I want to return it to its owner and hurry on back home,
but what will you do?!
Right now,
I'd still be up for keeping you company while you drowned your sorrows.
I survived, somehow.
Ow!
Ouch!
The next time you pull a stunt like this and show little regard for your life...
When that happens, I'll do you a favor and I'll kill you, so...
Got it?!
Miss Frolaytia?
What do you say?!
Y-Yes, ma'am!
I swear...
We got run ragged again.
Where'd those battlefronts go where you could take it easy?
If you could take it easy, it wouldn't be war.
Well, we did technically close this case, so that's good, but...
Isn't there something about this that doesn't make sense?
The Mass Driver Conglomerate's Object
came towards our base zone from the north, 50 klicks inland.
But if so,
where's the Object that was supplying power to those spare rail guns
that bombarded us along the coastline when we landed?
That Object is different
from the Object that was powering the spare rail guns along the coastline?
Might be.
It's possible that the Mass Driver Conglomerate still has another Object.
A mystery Object that's never come to anyone's attention,
and that can't be detected by radars or sensors...
Um, both his legs appear to be injured,
so perhaps we should prepare a wheelchair...
No need.
He'll only be on his feet for two or three hours while he gets chewed out.
He doesn't have to move.
Only two or three hours?
Leave us.
Y-Yes, ma'am!
Now, then...
Shall we begin?
Major Frolaytia Capistrano, I managed to survive somehow.
I thought I'd at least report that to you.
Major Halreed Copacabana. Both quite tenacious, aren't we?
The third-place candidate...
I had a bit something else to report as well.
Do you know that I am the candidate in third place?
Well, not that I really remember who's in first and second.
Then that's perfectly fine.
Because as of today, it seems I've been promoted to first place.
Wha...
Even though I faced such dire straits that I had to destroy my Object,
I continued to fight for the sake of a stable peace
and that distinguished service
seems to have met with approval by your family, the Capistranos.
Distinguished service?
That's...
Regardless of the circumstances,
there is no question that I took part in that engagement.
I see.
But no matter what number candidate you become,
unfortunately, I can't meet those demands right away.
I have my role to fill as a soldier of the Legitimate Kingdom.
I would think you should be able to find far better prospects.
No matter how fine a woman I might be able to find,
it would be pointless if I can't be certain of producing an heir.
I recommend that you immediately return to a Safe Nation
and undergo a thorough examination.
If your schedule doesn't allow for it,
do so, even if it means temporarily retiring from military service.
Incidentally, this proposal
is looking likely to be a done deal with your Capistrano family as well.
As for wanting to confirm that there are no lasting scars on your person?
Well, who could really find fault with that?
Pardon me, Major Copacabana!
To be honest, I have to confess that I, commoner Qwenthur Barbotage,
a student abroad on deployment,
--Wait... Idiot! No... --happen to have this sort of relationship
with Miss Frolaytia!
--Do not tweak me in weird places, Qwenthur! --Fondle... Fondle, fondle, fondle.
In other words, am I being given to understand
that in spite of being a young lady of the aristocracy,
Frolaytia Capistrano has had illicit intercourse with a mere commoner?
So, illicit intercourse, is it?
Um, I thought it was a bad idea,
but Miss Frolaytia pushed me down and straddled me.
I just couldn't help myself and ended up having illicit intercourse.
Why am I so aggressive in your fantasy?!
If she was so valuable to you,
you could've put a chastity belt on her with your name on it or something.
But as luck would have it, there was nothing to stop me.
I see, I see. So that's it.
I was thinking you was taking forever to return home from the battlefield,
but to find that you had been chasing men in such a fashion...
A vulgar woman who gives her body to any man who comes her way
cannot be permitted to bear the heir of the Copacabana family!
What a disaster!
Now, I must begin my search all over again!
How long are you going to keep at it?!
This is quite the predicament.
In view of the military regulations,
I have gained the right to officially shoot you dead.
As I recall, I have hollow-point bullets around here somewhere.
They're fantastic rounds that needlessly enlarges the wound.
This is bad! She's not just hiding her embarrassment! She sounds serious!
You've got guts, I'll give you that.
So you're going to let me stomp on you for a bit!
B-But it sort of seemed like you were in trouble with your back to the wall,
so I thought this was the only way to resolve it in a peaceful manner...
Then, what?!
Every time another candidate makes advances on me,
you plan to grab me like that from behind?!
Th-That might quite possibly happen...
No, not possible!
Not to mention, if people take your story on faith,
it'll mean I'll end up being treated as a bona fide slut!
What do I do?! What do I do?!
But you were that bothered by what I told you out there?
Well, sure.
After hearing a heavy story like that? Of course.
I wouldn't be alone in that.
Wanting to do something about it is only human nature.
I see.
Do something about it, huh?
Those are words I haven't heard in a while.
The All-Out War in Amazon City I
In a Cavalry Battle, Knock Down the Foothold