You're not the only one.

''Gong, your fathers have arrived at the ice shelf. Get ready for the real battle to begin.

Yes, sir.

I tucked the book I had been reading over and over again, "What If Mom Made the Zombie Virus - Part 1" into the pocket on my reinforced hull, answering Mom's voice from my personal terminal on my arm.
　I made this book myself a long time ago, but this time I have printed it out and distributed it to all the members of Chernobog, just in case of an emergency. Of course, it's best not to use the knowledge in this book, but you'd better be wary of Dr. Sandra, who is a real genius and has the same thought process as your mother.

''Do you really think, Lord Commander, that there will be a monster like the one described in Solet?''

'Yes. It's doubtful that they'll actually use it, but the zombies they've been manufacturing might escape in the aftermath of the attack. And the enemy's Antarctic base is supposedly a combination of our Hakone base and the G-88 base. I think we should take precautions.

　When I answered the question from Yoshif, who leads the heavy weapons squad, with some exaggeration, Yoshif, with a mysterious look on his face, took out the large shotgun he was carrying on his back and double-checked that it was firmly loaded. I thought about preparing my own personal firearm, but I decided against it because the moment my Type-0 suit was shot down in the first place, I was dead in the water. No matter how I tried to fight in the flesh, if it's impossible, it's impossible...so let's just give up gracefully and wait for rescue.

The Captain is...........just in time.

I was worried about the Captain, who had gone to Mr. Anton's place and hadn't come back in time, along with the skinhead, when the Captain, firmly dressed in his reinforced exoskeleton, comes into the room.

'Sorry I'm late,'

'No, it's no problem. I just got a call from my mom. Dad and the others have just arrived at the ice shelf and the battle is about to begin. We will now suit up and wait at the gate and wait for the simple gate to deploy over there.

Yes, sir. Now, let's follow the procedure.

Please.

　While the Captain led the Chernobog folks to put on their own suits, I walked alone down another corridor to the maintenance area where a dedicated Type 0 suit was waiting for me. In the meantime, I activated my terminal and called Claire-san, who responded with a subtly unhappy look on her face.

''........Yes.''

Um..., why are you angry?

'Can't you see it when you put your hand on your chest?　You're probably planning to proceed on your own without me again!　Didn't I promise you that the last time I went to Russia to pick you up?　I'm not going to shut up and act like a jerk again.'

'You're wrong!　I didn't do anything without telling Claire. I mean, I explained to you beforehand the procedure for attacking the base, didn't I?　Claire-san is in the X-55, waiting in the air. That's why I went out of my way to get Major Martin, who was Odin's captain, to be assigned over here.

"I'm aware of that, but still...

　Claire is silent. Even if it's too familiar to not trust me, I've really told her the whole plan for this one time. I mean, is that what it is?　As I recall, the serious Mr. Clare and the subtly unserious Air Force people at Major Martin's place didn't get along. But as expected, they had to be patient and get along for once, or we might die. No, the people in Chernobog are going to survive with room to spare, but I'm going to die.

'I repeat, Claire-san, I'm not hiding anything from you. And what I've asked Claire to do is really important.

"Yes, sir. I'll trust you, so please be safe.

Of course. I'll see you later.......and I almost forgot. Please take off when you're ready.

　I was at the waiting area by the time I cut off Claire's transmission after hastily adding the X-55's take-off clearance. The Type 0 suit waiting for my arrival in a kneeling position is a two-seater, and if you include Conn, it's a three-seater, so it's twice as big as a normal suit.
　However, the extra fuel and power supply equipment is originally needed for that amount of fuel, but this time the Kon is the alternative to fuel, so the mobility of the weight is not compromised.

"I think it's more efficient to keep the Kong on board rather than wasting it on a science fictional anti-matter reactor or something.

Umu....

Cu.....

　Muttering to myself, I walked inside the suit and woke up to find Alice and Conn, who must have been asleep. I can't make out Alice's expression in her full-face helmet, but she probably looks vaguely post-nap like I've seen her before. Con scratches her face dexterously with her tail and then yawns loudly. You should be a little more embarrassed than to claim to be a girl yourself....

'Alice, are you awake?'

Ummm, yeah. I'm fine.

What about Kong?

CON!

All right, I'll stand by at the gate now. Alice, I want you to fully activate your suit.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. It seems that Alice is lowering the burden on the brain that actually processes information to the extreme by making the brain think it is operating a keyboard.
　He said 'I like it because it's cool and tickles my fancy,' but that's called a chuunibunya, Alice.

Then checking for operating system updates. Partially approving Gongju's EEG control........ All fire control systems and communication systems handled by me. Requesting data link to satellite........., error. Requesting datalink from spare circuit error, hacking circuit 25 successful connection.

Wait!　I just heard some really disturbing words?

Requesting permission to use all armaments you are cleared. Terminate engine power limiters and fully activate Type 0 suits.

　When I moved the activated suit and stood up, I felt as if I had stood up by myself. That's how comfortable this Type 0 feels to operate. Rather than operating it, it's more of an image of me becoming the same size as the suit. When I was thinking about the fact that we've switched to full brainwave control, Alice gave me some additional information as she held a pack of orange juice in her mouth.

I'm not going to be able to tell you what to do," she says, "but I'm only allowing you to move and fly, and that's what I'm allowing you to control. Basically, I control the communications and fire control systems and such, but what about the attitude control assist and shooting control?

I just want the firing controls. You don't want me to move like that when Alice fires.

Yes. Well, yes. Now I gave it to you.

Thank you.

　Now let's go to the gate. The machos will be working hard to set up a simple gate by now, and there are people from the Ursna Empire, so it won't take much time. I decided to hurry to the gate while listening to the choo-choo sound of Alice drinking packaged juice.



─ ─ ─ Yuliya Viewpoint──.



Captain, we're all concerned. Do you really think that the monster will appear as Arakawa predicted?

　As I was putting on my suit, one of my men asked me a question with a serious look on his face.

'You mean that zombie or some other monster?　Hmm, I would have laughed it off originally, but that guy knew that there would be ghouls in G-88 as well. You'd better be prepared for a similar creature to come out this time, too.

Okay. But it's a crisis management procedure to prepare for a mass outbreak of an infectious biological weapon in a completely closed environment? This is, for all intents and purposes, an Antarctic base, isn't it?

　Instead of answering, I light a cigarette with the oil lighter I got from Anton. Well, I guess so. The title is a joke of a name, but the response procedure is so sophisticated that it would take dozens or hundreds of attempts to write it. In particular, the fact that he described in great detail the unforeseen circumstances that might have crept into the tiny gaps in our consciousness that we would normally not have a problem with, is an honest point of praise.

''It's going to be a tough fight...''

Yes. That's why you put Commander Claire on airborne, just in case, right?

Well. At worst, I'm going to have them ram an X-55 filled with explosives into the Antarctic base. In theory, it's more powerful than the Peacemaker, but Arakawa doesn't like it. I've heard that Dr. Sandra has some questions for you.

That's another thing I don't expect you to give me a straight answer.

"How to get back to the world you came from or not. I'm sure he's already figured that out. It's probably something to do with that girl you've fallen in love with so much.

Alice Alford. -Sandra's a b*tc*!　If you're going to mess around with it, why would you create an artificial life form when you could at least leave it to the soldiers?

You can't kill me?　At least until Arakawa finishes asking questions. And if you're going to deal with it, turn it off where Alice isn't looking. That girl is too kind.

　When we met Alice Alford at the Hakone base, that girl did not frighten us......... She wasn't even surprised like Arakawa was......... She just bowed her head and thanked us, 'Thank you for rescuing me, Conju-kun'.............
　And then the next words came out as he touched my metal reinforced face with his finger and asked, 'Doesn't it hurt? It was. I told him there was no need to worry about such things, and that every Chernobog soldier has had some pain since he became a reinforced soldier, but he misunderstood what I was saying and brought me painkillers. There was no way such a pill would work on us.

'Yes, I know. She's too kind.

　Yoshif, who was standing beside me at some point, replies while holding back a laugh. Perhaps this guy is also remembering that time. At that time I thought that Alice's behavior was beautiful, smiling gently at us, offering us medicine that most people would only find repulsive. For some reason it seemed to come easily to us, even though it would have been a spiteful sentiment when we were in the military.

'Yes, so we will protect her. Definitely a top priority. Arakawa fights with us, but Alice Alford does not. Don't forget that.

Yes, sir!　Well, speaking of rumors, here's Arakawa.

　I looked out of Iosif's line of sight and saw that the Type 0 suit had just arrived in front of the gate. I also fumbled with my foot for a cigarette before putting the suit on completely and connecting it to the data link in the unit. I was wondering why I was connected to the satellite on a different line than normal when, as I remembered, Yoshif opened his mouth.

'Speaking of which, what happened to Anton?

Yeah?　Yeah, I let him sleep and then I tied him to the bed.

What?

'So I put him to sleep with an anesthetic and then tied him to the bed. For the time being ... well, I don't think he'll be awake for at least two whole days.

　As I check the data link, ignoring Yoshif, who is frozen in place with a twitching face, it seems that Miki has given me permission to go into battle. In front of the dimly lit gate, each of us formed a formation with Arakawa at the center, holding our guns at the ready. Now, wait for me, Dr. Sandra. We'll be coming to you soon, Dr. Sandra.