Chapter 75 – Beautiful, Is It Not…! Like a Single Sword, Honed to Perfection.

A deep, absolute black that seemed to swallow even the brilliance of the stars.

The dark sector stretching just beyond the Seldia Autonomous Zone was a classified region, sealed without exception from the general public. A zone jointly secured by the vigilante corps and Syn-Fibra for prototype data collection and field training, it was ringed by an array of rigorous tracking sensors, with multiple unmanned interception systems positioned throughout -- programmed to engage any unauthorized vessel or intruder with live ammunition and no warning.

In the midst of that tense, silent combat sector, two Makina floated quietly.

The first was Arden -- the beloved machine of Letaria Adeniam, which had regained the right arm lost in recent battle and was in the process of transforming into something entirely new.

The second was Rasta -- the latest-generation next-model prototype, which had at last achieved stable operating status as the successor to the standard-issue general model.

From the cockpits of these two machines, ranged side by side across the comm line, came the voices of two young women -- both in high spirits, though for entirely different reasons.

"Oho ho ho! Magnificent! That child has come back to life, and together we return to a place like this -- there is no greater joy!"

"I know exactly what you mean, Letaria-san! I've finally found a new partner that lets me put a hundred percent of my abilities to work -- no, a hundred and twenty percent -- and I cannot stop feeling excited!"

Letaria's buoyant, ringing laugh, answered by Steshia in her usual irrepressible energy.

The reason both of them had reached this pitch of enthusiasm so quickly lay in an exchange that had taken place earlier that day, in one of Syn-Fibra's secure hangars.

◆

"Arden is finally repaired!"

Letaria had stepped into Syn-Fibra's heavily secured company hangar with barely-contained impatience. Just beside her, Steshia trotted along with a bright, gleaming face like a child before a field trip, keeping up in an eager little jog.

"I heard Rasta is finally operational too! Where is it? Dr. Ichinose, where's my new partner!?"

The two figures waiting for them at the back of the broad hangar were Milea in her white coat -- and standing beside her, Grain, the vigilante corps' captain. Piloting a Makina or any serious physical exertion was still prohibited, but the doctor had given him full clearance to leave his room and stand and talk on his own feet, so here he was.

"Welcome, both of you. Yes, everything is ready."

Milea lifted her gaze from the data pad and turned it toward the dark-violet frame that stood at the center of the hangar.

"Here you have it -- the components of the special unit project 'Letariem.' In practice, these are parts we forced into existence here using the main office design data -- a prototype of a prototype, a pre-prototype. That's what's been integrated into Arden."

Letaria's breath caught.

Arden, standing before her, had visibly changed its silhouette from the machine she remembered.

Until now, it had been a customized unit built on the exterior shell of the standard mass-production model Claphid -- the deep-purple paint and gold trim were Letaria's own, but the external form itself had been, to put it plainly, entirely unremarkable compared to the monstrous performance hidden within. Pretty in a way that befitted a noble lady, perhaps, but its outer appearance had told no one what it truly was.

The Arden fitted with Letariem pre-prototype components was different.

The geometry of all four limbs and the head unit had been completely replaced. The shape declared immediately that this was something operating beyond standard mass-production specs. The paint had been applied, at least, but the silhouette itself was stark and angular -- stripped of ornamentation, built of nothing but what was necessary for combat, pushed to its limit. It radiated a sharpness, an almost eerie beauty.

Letaria's gaze locked onto Arden as if she were seeing a beloved companion again for the first time.

"...Beautiful, is it not...! Like a single sword, honed to perfection..."

Hearing the soft wonder in Letaria's voice, Milea let a quiet smile cross her lips.

"Analysis of the Restful data has been progressing, and I was able to free up the time of someone trustworthy to assist me. That's what finally made it possible to put real work into these trial components. That said -- we'll be running repeated tests in this unstable state for a while before it reaches a complete form. Each time it's operated it will need a thorough post-flight check. But Letaria -- drawing out the true limits of this machine is something only you can do. I'm counting on you."

It was the voice of an engineer. And an elder sister. Both at once. Letaria squared her shoulders and nodded with firm conviction.

"Hehehe, leave it to me! No need to put it into words -- I know. This child is genuinely delighted to have me piloting it again!"

Milea watched her with warm satisfaction, then turned to where Steshia was fidgeting and shuffling beside them, barely able to contain herself.

"And Steshia-san. I'd like you to take the next-generation general model prototype, Rasta."

The machine Milea indicated was a sleek white general-purpose unit, its angular armor panels interlocking in clean, elegant lines.

"Its performance represents a substantial step up from the corps' current Rude -- across the board, in base configuration without any custom work, it's expected to surpass even the most modified Rudes currently in service. We've achieved specs that hold their own against the current military-use Luzam, and made them viable for civilian deployment. Steshia-san -- I'm counting on you for real-world operational data."

The instant those words landed, Steshia threw her entire body into a triumphant victory pose.

"Understood! Your super-ace Steshia will absolutely crush this test! Leave Syn-Fibra's future to me, Dr. Ichinose!"

At Steshia's characteristically over-the-top declaration, Grain, watching from behind them, rubbed the back of his head with a pained smile. "For the love of -- please don't total the machine on the first day..."

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And so, after that lively interlude --

In the isolated combat sector ringed by sensors and unmanned weapons, the full joint test flight of the dark-violet special unit and the white next-generation prototype had at last officially begun.

They were just about to set the machines in motion when:

"Speaking of which, Milea -- what is this?"

A small floating object had attached itself to Arden's rear.

"Ah -- that's an observation camera for recording your test flight data. ...Well, there's a slightly special system built into it, but don't worry about that."

Milea's composed voice came back over the comm line. She efficiently scanned the various readouts on her holographic monitor and gave a small, satisfied nod.

"Mm... position-sync looks clean, it's tracking properly. Don't worry, Letaria. Ignore it and proceed with the test as planned."

"Mm, having something bobbing along behind me is somewhat distracting... but if Milea says so, then very well."

Letaria eyed the small spherical floater on her rear monitor with mild suspicion, but quickly refocused. She brought her hands to the console, drawing on the enormous reserves of energy sleeping within her dark-violet machine.

First: basic movement verification.

Both Makina launched simultaneously into the black of open space.

"Here we go!"

With Letaria's call, Arden burst forward in sharp acceleration. The limbs fitted with the Letariem components generated an explosive surge of thrust that was something else entirely. But the feeling of the machine in that first moment was, to be generous, not smooth.

She tried full acceleration into a dead stop, then hovering that seemed to defy inertia -- but the machine's responses were far, far more sensitive than they had ever been.

"Wh-What is this...!?"

Letaria moved with the same body-sense she had cultivated with the old Arden, and the machine reacted with a sharpness so far beyond her expectation that she nearly lost attitude control.

Beside her, Steshia in the white Rasta was swimming awkwardly through the void as well.

"Whoa!? Easy there, Rasta! If I press the pedal with the same feel as the old Rude, I go flying!"

Steshia's flustered voice crackled over the comm. The upgraded performance meant that even the slightest input triggered an excessive response.

Next came precision movement verification: a handling and grip test with fragile dummy containers that had been pre-positioned throughout the sector.

"Pick it up without breaking it... Come on -- stop moving so much...!"

Arden's manipulators moved -- but the components' heightened sensitivity made transmitting delicate force to the fingertips extremely difficult. A tiny intended motion translated into large, jerky movement, and Letaria ground her teeth at the uncooperative machine.

Precision handling had never been her strong suit, and a machine with even sharper drive responsiveness only made it worse.

Rasta was struggling too -- Steshia was getting thrown around by the high response sensitivity, her grip on the containers looking somewhere between cautious and dangerous.

When they moved into the third phase -- joint operation and formation verification -- the unsteadiness only became more pronounced.

"Steshia-san! Why are you drifting that way!? I signaled I was taking the left flanking route!"

"What!? Because your Arden's acceleration keeps blowing past the formation reference speed! When I try to match you, Rasta's trajectory balloons out...!"

They had shared position data linked between the machines, but both pilots were still feeling out their new units' output balance. Their movements were, to put it charitably, spectacularly mismatched. Clean side-by-side positioning and mutual cover -- any kind of coherent front-line structure -- was utterly out of reach at this stage.

"...Hah."

From the command room inside Seldia, Milea's deep sigh came clearly through the comm line. Standing beside her, Grain scratched the back of his head with a rueful smile.

"Well -- within expectations, honestly. First time in new machines, and these two on top of it. Expecting synchronized teamwork from the start would be the strange part. For now, as long as the datalink sync is holding, I'd call it acceptable."

"Fair point... Both of them are struggling with the handling feel, but the drive data itself is hitting potential figures that exceed our projections. As initial tests go, I'd say this is broadly satisfactory. ...Let's move on. Final phase: ballistics testing."

On Milea's call, both machines relocated to the zone where dummy targets had been positioned.

First: static target shooting. Then: moving fire with high-speed maneuvering -- run and gun.

"Witness my magnificent marksmanship!"

Forcing the peaky machine into compliance by sheer will, the test rifle mounted on Arden opened fire -- and failed to destroy the distant dummy target in one shot.

Her shooting hadn't improved. On the third attempt, she punched through the target.

Rasta, meanwhile, had Steshia wrestling with the oversized machine response -- but she was putting accurate fire downrange regardless, picking off multiple dummy targets in succession.

"Letaria is... fine, never mind. Steshia-san is shaping up nicely. At this rate, we can move to the next adjustment step sooner than scheduled--"

Milea was studying the data on her screen with quiet satisfaction, the words still half-formed on her lips, when it happened.

Without warning, a sharp, piercing alarm tone erupted -- simultaneously through both cockpits and through the entire command room.

The holographic monitors flickered. Emergency alerts blazed in red, strobing violently.

"Wh-What is that dreadful sound!?"

"An alert!? Dr. Ichinose, what's happening!?"

Letaria and Steshia called out at the same moment.

The composure Milea had worn only a moment ago vanished. Her hands flew across the data pad at speed, throwing the omnidirectional sensor readout across the main display in full.

"Emergency. Radar contact. ...Something is approaching the autonomous zone -- coming in from Seldia's outer perimeter!"

The silence that had held in the black sector shattered. In an instant, the tension of a situation balanced on the edge of violence flooded in to fill the void.