Chapter 12: I Don’t Know How to React to the Main Characters Gathering One After Another
  “Anish, isn’t that a military ship?”
  
  Yuuki Shijima followed his childhood friend, Anish, while gazing at the Mirandora that had landed at the international airport. He knew from the internet that it was the Earth Army’s latest cruiser, but he wondered why it would come to such a remote planet.
  It seemed like some kind of war was going on in the sky, but civilians had no way of knowing the details.
  
  That being said, he was in a difficult position if asked whether he was truly a civilian.
  He was helping maintain the military machines while following Anish of the Security Force. It was true that he aspired to be an engineer and didn’t dislike tinkering with machines, so he thought this experience would be beneficial for him.
  
  “Did you say there’s a war going on in space?”
  “I don’t know! We candidates don’t get any decent information. Besides, I’m on standby. We have enough Teurugias, it’s ridiculous!”
  
  Anish was a girl with vibrant brown hair casually tied in a ponytail. She was pouting and in a bad mood because she was being given free time during such an emergency.
  She had found Yuuki, who happened to be working part-time, and was dragging him around.
  She had always been strong-willed, and Yuuki had often been made to cry by her.
  
  “We have eight Georgs and two Rabi Reivus. Including me, there are eight candidates. And two instructors. So, how does that make three people on standby for sortie!?”
  “Isn’t that just how it is?”
  “Idiot, there’s a war going on in space! And they’re reducing the number of sortie personnel? My grandfather is hiding something too, and the instructors have been acting strange lately. And on top of that, some strange cargo has been brought in.”
  “Ah, come to think of it, something like that happened three weeks ago.”
  
  He vaguely remembered seeing something pompous being transported during maintenance, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it.
  Did he forget to erase a memo?
  Support supplies from the main planet arrived rarely, so he had felt that it was just one of those things.
  
  “You’re so carefree. Don’t you think there might be rebels here?”
  
  Anish looked at her childhood friend with exasperation.
  Yuuki also knew that the colony planets were biased towards the rebels. It was a well-known fact, and there was a kind of tacit understanding.
  The farther away from Earth, the more pro-rebel the sentiment became.
  He could sense from the atmosphere that Byblos was also more inclined towards the rebels. Above all, Adamant, Anish’s grandfather and the representative of this planet, openly disliked New Balance.
  
  “But what would they do here? On a backwater planet like this?”
  
  He recalled his military otaku friend saying that the strategic value was low.
  Byblos was a truly rural planet, and there weren’t any particularly useful resources to be extracted. He had said that neither New Balance nor the rebels had any need to build a base here.
  They had no way of knowing that their prediction was far from the truth.
  
  “I don’t know!”
  
  Anish said, turning around.
  Her brown ponytail swayed gently, and her well-defined features seemed to emerge from behind a curtain of lace.
  
  “That’s why we’re going to investigate.”
  
  She had been angry until a moment ago, but now she was grinning.
  
  “Investigate? You don’t mean……”
  “Yes, my grandfather is definitely hiding something. And there are definitely rebels here. Besides, that battleship, it’s definitely not a New Balance ship. I’m also curious why it’s landed here so peacefully, aren’t you?”
  “Well, I guess each planet is technically an Earth colony, right? So, I think the military would come if they had business……”
  
  However, it was true that he was curious why the military had come to such a rural area and even engaged in a war.
  It was something to be concerned about. Rather, it was better to be concerned. After all, a war had broken out in space. That meant a lot of people had died. It was terrifying to think that such a horrible thing could happen on this planet.
  
  “Hey, won’t we be killed if we’re caught?”
  “We just have to not get caught. Come on, let’s go. I can’t stand not knowing anything.”
  
  Saying that, Anish grabbed Yuuki’s hand and ran off.
  Yuuki and Anish.
  In the anime, they were the boy and girl who would play the roles of the protagonist and heroine.
  
  ***
  
  The first thing Shougo felt when he landed on Byblos was the muggy humidity.
  He had never experienced a tropical rainforest, but he somehow felt that even the summer in Japan was drier. He knew that if he stood in this heat in his military uniform, he would be drenched in sweat in no time.
  Moreover, perhaps because Jowain’s body was accustomed to air conditioning, he felt more discomfort than he had expected.
  The environment inside a spaceship was kept constant. Otherwise, it would cause stress. Stress in space could easily lead to serious symptoms…… That was Jowain’s knowledge.
  He could certainly understand that, but still……
  
  “It seems we have a welcoming party.”
  
  Lieutenant Mark and several other officers had accompanied him for the negotiations.
  He had chosen Lieutenant Mark because of his attitude towards the other side. Bringing him, their greatest fighting force, down to the planet meant leaving the Mirandora defenseless.
  Normally, such a terrifying thing would be impossible, but it was Shougo who was doing it.
  That’s why Lieutenant Mark had laughed out loud when he had requested it. Shougo had thought he would be refused or resented, but strangely enough, he had agreed without hesitation.
  
  ‘During the battle, I wasn’t really paying attention, and I don’t know if it was shown in the anime, but there are this many military personnel on the Mirandora.’
  
  In addition, the tactical officer, Major Kes, who was equivalent to the executive officer, was also coming along. He was a nervous man in his forties who couldn’t seem to settle down. Even he agreed with Shougo’s plan.
  On the other hand, the navigation officer, Captain Faran, was reluctantly considering disembarking. He was also young, in his thirties. The fact that he was higher in rank than Mark was due to his family background. Nevertheless, he was a capable man.
  In the first place, the Mirandora crew was composed of relatively young military personnel.
  Even those in their forties were considered young within the entire New Balance organization.
  
  This meant that in an organization with a seniority-based hierarchy where rank increased with age, young officers, even if they were elite, were in a position to be exploited by their superiors.
  If they wanted to somehow improve their position, they had to either curry favor…… or be protected by their family background.
  However, even if they had a good family background, it was meaningless if they were a disadvantage to Colonel Anferu or Commander Fauden. Shougo realized that the crew members for this operation, other than Jowain, were basically such people.
  
  ‘That being said, this is also Jowain’s knowledge…… or rather, Anferu’s words.’
  
  Tracing Jowain’s memories, he recalled that Anferu had apparently grumbled about the selection of members for this operation, saying that there were many people he didn’t like.
  He found those who were rebellious, but also those who were high-achieving and, for military personnel, or rather, high-ranking officials, too principled, to be a nuisance.
  Of course, he wouldn’t openly punish them. This operation was also, on the surface, a mission to subjugate the rebels.
  It was undeniably suspicious, but everyone thought that this army had some shady aspects. It wasn’t even questioned to that extent.
  However, it seemed they hadn’t considered that their underestimation would lead to their own demise.
  
  “Well, well, you’re Lieutenant Commander Jowain, right?”
  
  Lopes was in the jeep that had come to meet them. Beside her was a strong man who looked like a marine, acting as her bodyguard. He was nicknamed Iron, if Shougo remembered correctly.
  He was a man of few words, or rather, he didn’t have any lines in the anime. He probably only fired a machine gun.
  There was also a very young female officer driving the jeep.
  She was also an anime character. Pinere, a blonde girl who was the helmsman. She had the appearance of a typical modern girl, and her personality was mostly like that too, but she was supposed to be a top-notch helmsman. There was some backstory about her being a gamer or something, but he didn’t remember it well.
  
  “Hello, Lieutenant Commander Lopes.”
  “Forget the ranks. We’re the Rebel Army here.”
  
  When Lopes said that, Iron beside her reacted with a twitch.
  
  “It’s alright, boy. This gentleman here is aware of our existence. Should I say he has a good nose?”
  
  Lopes soothed Iron.
  Shougo felt as if he was being prompted to speak, so he continued.
  
  “New Balance will act if they have suspicions. That’s the kind of place it is. Now it’s turned into conviction. I want to talk quickly. We have no more than two days. Even if the Planet Killer’s gravitational anomaly is blocking the warp route, there are plenty of ways to attack this place.”
  
  After warping outside the abnormal sector, it was also possible to physically advance using rocket boosters and such. However, even to do that, preparations were needed. They would also need to come up with a reason to attack this place.
  No matter how forceful New Balance was, they would be held back by the organization’s sluggishness in that regard.
  
  “Why are you so sure it’s two days?”
  “Because we have two more Planet Killers.”
  
  If the other side was going to reveal their identity, he would also reveal his t*ump card.
  They were still not on equal footing, but he had managed to show a form of concession.
  
  “So, there’s something I want to talk about right away. About the Trismegistus……”
  “Humph, so its existence has been discovered, huh?”
  “Anferu is frantic about it.”
  “I can imagine. It’s something beyond our comprehension. Both the Doctor and that pilot boy refuse to use it in battle.”
  
  Shougo’s heart skipped a beat at those words.
  It had finally come. The official pilot of the Trismegistus, who shouldn’t have existed in the original story.
  
  “Is the pilot a New Balance soldier like me?”
  “Yeah, I guess so. Though he was a researcher rather than a soldier. Well, he can still pilot. He’s currently piloting a Georg for us. He insists that the Trismegistus shouldn’t be used in battle and should be dismantled.”
  “……I see.”
  
  Shougo remembered something.
  In the first episode of the anime, there was a Georg that had boldly challenged Lieutenant Mark to a fight. It was nameless, and there was no depiction of the pilot. It was just a minor character that was immediately shot down.
  Could it be that……?
  
  ‘The original story has been altered. Now, what will happen……?’
  
  He had to think things through carefully.
  Shougo let out a small sigh and stretched his neck to try and shake off the humidity.
  That’s when it happened. He hadn’t been consciously looking, he had just happened to glance to the side, but their eyes met.
  A boy and a girl were watching them. Hiding behind a cargo container.
  Moreover, he felt like he had seen them somewhere before……
  
  “Ah.”
  
  He couldn’t help but let out a sound. After all, those two were the protagonist and heroine.
  Lopes reacted to Shougo’s murmur. Then everyone looked at them.
  If that happened, Yuuki and Anish would hurriedly try to escape from there.
  
  “Iron.”
  
  Lopes sighed and jerked her chin towards Iron, ordering him to catch them. Iron, with his incredible speed, caught up to the two and brought them back, holding them by their sides.
  
  ‘Oh boy, I can’t believe I’m meeting the protagonist and heroine at this timing. I’m happy, but not so happy at the same time.’
  
  The heroine, Anish, was protesting loudly, while the protagonist, Yuuki, seemed to have given up and looked dejected. In a way, that sight was peaceful. In the anime, they were always tense and had no time to relax.
  
  “Good grief, it’s the representative’s granddaughter and her boyfriend. Fancy them peeking like that.”
  “They’re probably curious. It’s not a bad thing. Could you please refrain from being rough with them?”
  “We won’t do anything. However, they’ve seen this place. We’ll have to have them accompany us for a bit.”