Chapter 104: CH 96

The Cimon-class made landfall on a sandy beach.

It was now in the middle of retrieving all the units that had sortied out to fight in the operation.

Two Hangar Carriers were returning from the Defense Dome.

They didn’t contain Silhouettes. The ones on board were all humans.

All the refugees from Fortress Area D516 have been taken in. There were many young men, women, and Familiars among them.

Kou and the others watched the proceedings from the combat command center.

「A majority of them are Kurt Maschinenbau employees and related staff. There are also personal staff members of the area administrator among them.」

「I thought it would be better for them to be taken in by us since they’re still being suspected.」

「The Dome administrator himself seems to have urged them to leave. It does leave a bad aftertaste.」

Until now, it was rare for the Murders under the command of the Stones to conduct a pursuit operation against refugees.

That’s why it was only natural to think that they were aiming for the transferee company’s employees instead of the original residents of the Dome.

「Once the new refugee area is finished, please move them all there. They’ll stay here on the ship for now.」

「Right. We’re lacking personnel after all. There are a lot of Development Engineers among them. There’s no doubt that they’ll be a big help. The enemy won’t be able to track the Cimon-class that’s capable of underwater navigation. They don’t have to worry about being chased down anymore.」

「That’s good then. They also said they were willing to cooperate with us.」

If one has the qualification as a Development Engineer, one can at least operate a small workshop or some work machines.

Although Kou was doing his best to oversee everything, it was still fairly hard to micromanage.

If he could get some help in that area, he’d wholeheartedly welcome it.

「The operation is a success. The Defense Dome sent us a thank you message. They said this was the first and last time they’d make such a request.」

「Because they didn’t issue a formal request, they’re not obligated to hand over any reward. It’s just a diplomatic way of saying ‘get out of here already’. Those guys are probably celebrating like idiots right now.」

Robert scoffed and shrugged his shoulders.

Even though they did receive a reward from Okeanos, the Defense Dome normally should have also given a separate reward.

「I submitted a formal claim regarding the defense reward. As expected, since the request didn’t go through the Mercenary Association, they didn’t treat it as official, so the claim didn’t go through. I did make sure to say we won’t accept other similar requests in the future, so that made them panic a bit, but I immediately hung up after that.」

「It’s a bad precedent after all.」

Even though the defense operation was accomplished successfully, the response of the Defense Dome afterward was frankly terrible.

Since the request wasn’t made through the Mercenary Association, the Dome officials didn’t hesitate to refuse to pay any reward money. So Metal Iris had to settle for the reward for defeating the Enyo that was paid directly by Okeanos.

If such a matter were to spread, others might try the same thing and make requests to Metal Iris without any intention of paying any reward. Hence, it set a bad precedent.

「We’ve gotten some good combat data though. We aren’t exactly powerful enough to go head-to-head with the enemy yet, but we do have more than enough power to put up a good fight.」

「There are no other Underground Forces that have managed to defeat two Enyos.」

「The Dragoon tanks proved to be very effective. They also served as great cover for the other units when combined.」

Rick nodded in agreement. The pilots of the cavalry tanks were basically Familiars, so he was happy to see them do well.

「The transport helicopters and heavy attack aircrafts also performed very well. Troop deployment speed is a very important aspect of combat operations after all.」

「Oh, wait. That just reminded me of something. What the heck were those Silhouettes piloted by Therianthropes!? When did you load them up!? Actually, when did you make them in the first place!?」

Jenny pinched Kou’s cheeks and stretched them out. Kou escaped from her and hurriedly hid behind Blue.

「Those were basically prepared in a hurry. The training of the Therianthrope pilots got finished literally just before we sortied for the operation.」

「Don’t you think the world would get turned upside down now that Therianthropes can also pilot Silhouettes?」

「I’m planning on making it exclusive to our Silhouette Base for now. The Therianthrope-use Silhouettes will serve as one of our main attractions when recruiting personnel.」

「They’ll be exclusive to us? They’d definitely attract a lot of attention!」

「Just how many hidden aces do you have up your sleeve, Shadow Boss?」

Rick was also quite amazed. The Therianthrope-use Silhouettes were quadrupedal, but they also sported humanoid arms. Hence, they could be used for precision work. There was no doubt that the burden placed on the Familiars would be reduced.

「There actually isn’t a lot, okay?」

「What about that weapon that severed the Enyo’s forelimb clean? I just looked it up, and something like that is impossible for even the most high-performance Silhouette swords.」

Blue leaned her neck to the side as she inquired. It was a cute gesture, but also scary because her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

「It was really sharp, wasn’t it?」

「Don’t try to pass it off as normal!」

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Kou couldn’t talk about Arges, so he had no choice but to gloss over the topic.

「By the way, is Kurt-san’s safety still not confirmed?」

「It looks like the enemy really was aiming for Mr. Kurt. His former company employees also suspect this was the case. Either he successfully escaped together with the Familiars after a fierce resistance, or died under the enemy’s fierce pursuit……」

「Kurt-san did show the intent to fight to the bitter end. But if he’s aware that he’s being targeted, will he really risk joining up with the people from his company?」

「Him surviving might just be our wishful thinking though.」

「I know. But, at least, we now know that he was pursued. If he’s still alive, they definitely haven’t captured him yet. Right now, we can only pray for his safety. Let’s hope that we can immediately come to his rescue if he does reappear.」

At the very least, Kou resolved himself to take care of the people Kurt had fought to protect.

He had no choice but to be content with this for the time being.

Kou went back to the hangar and checked on the situation of the machines that sortied out in the operation.

Marl and the other maintenance team members were busy servicing them. He also spotted Aimer’s machine among them.

Voy was checking out Unit 5.

When they spotted Kou, Nyanta, Aki, and the other Therianthropes immediately surrounded him.

「It’s amazing nyaa! This Silhouette is super amazing nyaa!」

「Kou, this will be considered a technological revolution even during the Interplanetary War era. At the very least, it is for us.」

The two ladies were very moved.

The others were equally moved as well. Some were even crying.

「I-It can’t be that big of a deal, right……?」

Kou meekly downplayed the matter, but the surrounding people shook their heads.

「When we first boarded these Silhouettes, we truly thought we could already die happy right there and then you know?」

「That’s true. I didn’t even want to get off when I got back to the hangar. Kou-sama! Please let us officially join as members of the Quattro Silhouette squad!」

A young man with fox ears and a young girl with rabbit ears emotionally begged Kou to make them official pilots.

They were Nyanta and Aki’s batchmates. In other words, they were part of the Therianthropes who formerly slept inside Astraea.

「Don’t die on me, you hear?」

「Yes!」

Kou was honestly troubled about the matter. They were acting like they’d even be willing to worship him as some kind of Messiah.

Kou considered the matter an accomplishment due to the power of Asia and Prometheus. So he was unwilling to take credit for it.

「You can continue to pilot the machines you used today, everyone. But you might get assigned to the maintenance or supply team instead. Are you fine with that?」

「With pleasure!」

「That’s great. It’ll take a load off the Familiars, so I’m counting on you all!」

The surrounding Therianthropes rejoiced.

「Also, Kou is off-limits, guys.」

「Eh……」

「Why……?」

Sorrowful cries went up here and there.

Kou tried his best to ignore them.

「Let’s name the unit the Quattro Trooper Division. Nyanta will be the captain. Aki’s a little too gung-ho for the job.」

「Eh–?」

「Roger nyaa. The Quattro Trooper Division huh? Nice!」

Nyanta, who was also worried about her sister’s unexpected propensity to act recklessly in combat, immediately accepted Kou’s proposal.

「The Therianthropes will play an active role from now on using the Quattro Silhouettes. So you guys also need to be good role models to the younger generations of Therianthropes.」

「Please leave it to us!」

「I think everyone will be really happy!」

Although he had been a bit thrown off by their enthusiasm at first, Kou was truly happy for the Therianthropes.

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