Chapter 158 – This Is No Time for That Anymore–!

"This is... a Makina..."

In a sealed section deep within the facility, lit by cold, featureless lights, a single machine lay quietly at the center.

Its armor was plain, and its overall form was somewhat small. It resembled none of the machines she had met in her earlier clashes with Argria's units, nor any she had come across on Seldia's soil -- a form entirely new to her.

A certain rugged quality hung about the armor plating, somehow calling to mind that very Arden she had first boarded long ago and shared life and death with.

"There is nothing for it but to do this."

She did not have a single second to spare for hesitation here. Letaria made up her mind, sprang up the gangway in one rush, and slid into the cockpit block that stood open.

She sank into the cramped pilot's seat and fixed her eyes on the consoles lined up before her.

"Please... move...!"

In the same way as with Arden, she touched and operated the panels with something close to prayer. No one could know whether it would move. It was a moment like a wager.

-- After several seconds of eerie silence.

With a hiss of venting air the hatch closed automatically, and in the cockpit that had been wrapped in darkness, vivid startup lights began to come on, one after another.

"Ah! It moves!"

A smile of relief on her face, Letaria gripped the control stick hard -- and in the very next moment.

"Eek--?! W-what is going on?!"

Completely ignoring Letaria's operation, the silver Makina began to walk of its own accord, rocking the floor beneath its feet. Whether she tried to turn it or to stop its legs, the machine accepted none of her input. It charged in a straight line toward the hangar's bulkhead.

◆◆◆

-- At the same time, in the data management room on the lower level.

Thanks to the flawless system outage Priscilla had set off from the upper level, the guards of this section had all gone off to deal with the disturbance. Grain, who had slipped past the heavy defensive walls, had reached the target data console without running into a single soul.

"...It really is wide open."

Grain deftly connected a small terminal to the console and began extracting the top-secret data he had come for. The green access gauge shot quickly to 100% and the data was saved to the memory he had brought.

"All right, data acquired... Still, Miss Priscilla's handiwork and skill really are something to be afraid of."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with a firm swipe, Grain worked the bracelet terminal on his arm and opened a comm.

"Miss Priscilla, I have the data safely. My work here is done."

Through crackling audio, Priscilla's calm voice came back from the control room on the upper level, which she was holding.

"Understood, Mr. Grain. I will send the safest retreat route to your terminal at once, one linking the blind spots of the surveillance cameras. Please return to the designated point quickly, before the guards recover from their panic. I will begin my own retreat as soon as I have completely wiped the control room's data."

"Understood. That's a big help..."

Grain let out a breath of relief, but then his brows drew together. There was a gap in the allies' vital-sign log displayed on his bracelet screen.

"...But Miss Priscilla, I'm worried about Letaria. Ever since she went off on her own to chase that Rofi girl, I still can't get through to her. I know it's because of the barrier cutting off the lower level, but..."

"Yes, given Miss Letaria's nature, she may well be doing something reckless, trying to rescue Miss Rofi by force. The control room's wide-area sensors cannot locate her either. However--"

Priscilla continued over the comm in a tone that was gentle yet composed.

"At this rate, the two of them will be surrounded together by Argria reinforcements. First, to the rendezvous point--"

Before Priscilla could finish speaking, a tremendous shock struck the whole of the vast cargo station.

A rumbling crash like an earthquake and the heavy shriek of metal being torn apart shook the whole of the data management room through the walls. Dust drifted down from the ceiling, and Grain instinctively put a hand to the wall and crouched.

"Ugh... Wh-what is this?! What on earth happened?! Miss Priscilla, did you set off some kind of trap?!"

"No, it was not I! It is not the control room system's shaking...! Wait... is this Miss Letaria?!"

"Letaria?!"

The instant Grain's eyes widened, a deafening scream rang out from both their bracelets through the emergency interrupt comm line.

"Grain! Miss Priscilla! What is going on--?! This one is moving on its own--!!"

It was a young lady's scream, wholly out of place on a tense infiltration mission in enemy territory.

◆◆◆

Letaria was thoroughly confused.

"Stop! I am telling you to stop, do you hear me?!"

The Makina she had boarded had certainly moved. It had moved, but its movement entirely ignored her operation, charging at tremendous speed through the station's inner walls and the storage-vault bulkheads and tearing through them as it went, never ceasing.

She had thought she might use this machine to rescue Rofi by force, but this was no time for that anymore--!

The silver machine did not change course, like a beast with a will of its own. All Letaria could do was pray desperately that she was not dragging Grain, Priscilla, and Merry and the others waiting at the dock into her runaway.

The silver Makina ran amok without stopping, smashing through armored walls and bundles of piping in its way one after another and pressing on.

"Eeeek--!! Please, I beg you, stop!!"

In the instant Letaria cried out, tears in her eyes--

With a heavy metallic impact, the Makina abruptly stopped dead.

"It... stopped...?"

Pitched forward by the sheer shock, Letaria timidly steadied her breathing and looked over the main monitor.

The panoramic monitor, which a moment ago had shown the scene of walls being destroyed, now showed not the wreckage of a factory but a blackness as far as the eye could see and countless glittering stars scattered across it.