Evolve (24)
"This operation, I'm counting on you."
"Oh, aren't you going to ask if I'm okay anymore?"
Celestia looked at me, eyes wide in surprise. She was waiting to board Roxy's shuttle in the storage bay, having been chosen as one of the members descending to the surface this time.
Celestia, as the head of Myosotis, still held a crucial position, but it wasn't a situation where she could remain on the ship. Since someone who could unlock security codes had to be present, she had to be selected for the operation. Celestia herself wanted this as well.
'It feels a bit strange to say this, but...'
Licorice could have come instead, but she had no aptitude for combat. Her hacking skills were clearly outstanding, but that was all. She couldn't participate in actual combat where weapons were wielded and guns fired.
Unless it was a situation like when we fought Maker, where hacking prowess could shine, she was left with nothing to do but throw on a cloak with active camouflage. Unlike her, Celestia at least had some combat ability.
"We're past the point where I need to ask you that every time. I really trust you now."
"So, does that mean you didn't trust me before...?"
Celestia looked visibly hurt. I couldn't help but chuckle.
"It's not that I didn't trust you. I was worried. There were times I wondered if you were truly alright."
Pain can numb a person's rationality. The moment you lose your calm and fall into panic, your chances of surviving in a dangerous environment plummet—possibly to zero. I was wary of that.
Celestia had the achievement of reviving the fallen Myosotis. It was an incredible feat, no doubt. But I didn't directly connect her achievement to combat situations because the nature of fighting was entirely different.
I was sure Celestia had faced countless assassination attempts during the process of reviving Myosotis—that was something she'd said herself. Even so, I judged that facing a mutant head-on was a different experience from simply receiving threats.
The oppressive presence of a mutant wasn't a lie. That's why I always asked if she was alright whenever we headed out together. By now, I'd gotten to know Celestia well enough that I didn't need to ask anymore.
"... Are you sure?"
"Of course. If it's you, Celestia, I can trust you to watch my back."
When I said that, Celestia's face noticeably brightened. Tapping the long case on her back, she announced its presence.
"I'll take full responsibility. I brought my linear rifle, just in case."
"It's already finished?"
"Of course! Technology is so good these days—at least a prototype can be made quickly. It might not be perfect, but it'll be powerful enough for emergencies."
Given the nature of the surrounding 'fog', we couldn't fully utilize the advantage of long-range weapons, but it was still something we couldn't do without. It could still pack a punch even at close range.
Celestia explained that even if the prototype linear rifle broke, I just needed to recover the gun barrel made from Whiteout's tail bone. I nodded, impressed.
Just then, I spotted Nadia boarding the power loader and ran over immediately, hoping to perform my little routine before she entered the cockpit.
"Whoa? Hyun-woo! Where are you going!"
As I ran, Celestia followed—caught off guard. Seeing the direction I was headed, she smiled wistfully and slowed down, simply trailing after me at a lazy pace.
"I didn't have time to make another cannon, so I substituted it with a storage bay fixture. I mounted a shield there so you can grab it in a pinch."
"This isn't bad. Actually, I like it. Even if it's passed performance tests, there's still no field data for actual combat. Since we have space left, let's load more booster or ammo packs, yeah?"
"Sure. There'll still be spare room, so we can airdrop extra containers. Once the fog clears, additional supplies can be delivered."
"When I request an ammo resupply, prepare a mini-missile pod as well. Even if the system's locked, I can unlock it—so just drop it as is."
"Understood. We'll be collecting a lot of data this time."
Nadia was in conversation with Kyle, checking data on her personal terminal—she looked every bit the expert. It was a reassuring and impressive sight. But there was something even more important.
"Oh, Hyun-woo. You're he—"
Nadia, sensing my presence, turned with a bright smile. Or at least, she would have, had I not grabbed her tail right then.
I hugged her fluffy tail tightly, just as I'd dashed over. I wanted to bury my face in it, but with so many onlookers, I restrained myself. Limited by my clutch on her tail, Nadia froze up.
The bright smile faded to a blush. But it wasn't as if she disliked it. Instead of pulling away, she positioned herself so I could enjoy her tail more easily. We'd done this so often she was used to it.
Watching Nadia and I, Kyle shook his head as if to say, 'There they go again...' He left with a final word: to collect plenty of live data and come back safely.
After Kyle left, Nadia finally spoke up.
"Don't just grab me like that out of the blue."
"I figured it was better to do it before you got in the cockpit, so I rushed over."
"Gosh..."
Her tone sounded like a scolding at first, but she was smiling. The sensation of Nadia's tail was very soothing, practically my own personal charm.
It wasn't so strange for me to do this. Tail-greeting is part of beastkin culture. Normally, both tails would be intertwined, but since I didn't have one, I made do with this.
Beastkin are people too. More precisely, they're classified under that category. But from of old, their appearance has differed significantly from ordinary humans—as if improved humans, with ears and tails at the smallest, and sometimes wholly different features.
Among those, the tail stood out for its resilience to external environments. Unless you found yourself in an environment as harsh as space, the tail was largely unaffected by most conditions. The culture of wishing well with the tail took hold for this very reason—hoping to endure hardships as well as one's tail could.
"Haa..."
A sigh from the side made me turn my head. Celestia was staring at Nadia's tail as if she might burn a hole through it. It was surprising, even a little alarming.
Nadia noticed the look too, and hesitantly offered,
"Do you want to touch it too, Celestia? Just this once, I'll let you."
"... Okay."
Celestia quietly approached and placed her hand on Nadia's tail. Since the tail was big and fluffy, resting one hand on it was easy.
"..."
Celestia pressed her lips tight, enjoying the fluffy sensation, then suddenly started feeling around her own head and lower back.
It looked as if she was imagining what it would be like if she had ears and a tail herself—her serious expression added to the effect. It felt a bit dangerous somehow.
"Y-you can stop now."
Nadia, perhaps sensing a threatening desire from Celestia's gaze, pushed her hand away, feeling as if her tail might get stolen. Celestia looked regretful, repeatedly opening and closing her now-empty hand.
"Hyun-woo, you too. I'm about to get in and move, so that's enough. You've had your fill."
"But..."
「ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*)」
While I was hanging back in disappointment, Carry—now practically part of the power loader—burst out laughing. It was then that someone tapped my shoulder.
"Hey, buddy, let's get going."
"Huh? Roxy, where have you been? I thought you'd head straight for the bridge."
"I had something to take care of."
Yawning and stretching, Roxy looked completely at ease despite the dangerous operation ahead—a classic Roxy move.
"You missed the briefing, right? Want me to summarize it, or do you want to see the operation plan yourself?"
"Obviously the summary. I have a condition where I can't read long texts."
"... That's just called being lazy."
I grimaced. Roxy just shrugged.
"The fog isn't just regular fog—it's ECM chaff, so we'll have to use our eyes instead of cameras or regular sensors. We'll be entering this hazardous fog and heading to the Veilam spaceport that's hidden inside. Our minor objective is to find the reactor there, and our main goal is to overload the furnace and channel its energy to proceed to the next phase of the Purification Project."
"Oh, that really is simple. I like it."
Roxy laughed, saying that he wouldn't have understood if it was any longer. Stroking his chin, he mumbled,
"Hmm, relying on eyesight rather than sensors, huh..."
"Altitude sensors will probably malfunction too, so we'll have to rely on gut feeling for just about everything."
"That's right up my alley. Leave it to me."
I trusted Roxy's piloting skills. I trusted Roxy as a person too, though I didn't know why there was an undercurrent of unease.
"Oh, buddy, catch."
Roxy tossed something over. I caught it easily, and Roxy continued.
"The old man wanted you to have this."
"Carrot? What is it?"
"Says it's blood."
"Blood?"
Why was I being handed blood all of a sudden? I couldn't hide my confusion at the silvery liquid.
"It's not regular blood, it's an extract from the blood."
"Ah."
It was definitely Carrot's blood, not mine or Roxy's. And when he said 'extract', something came to mind.
"Nano-machines..."
"Apparently, the security robots at the spaceport might be immune to the ECM chaff. The old man said if you want, after neutralizing a robot, you should spray this on it. Then you can take control of the robot."
"Aha—wait, how do you know all this already?"
I was admiring the acquisition, but then narrowed my eyes, realizing Roxy must have skipped the bridge and gone to Carrot for this package and some extra information.
"Oops."
Feigning surprise, Roxy said he'd done his job relaying the message and hurried off. Apparently, I'd fallen for his prank.
"At least tell me how many uses I get!"
"It depends on the robot size! For power loader-scale, twice! For Beta-series, five times!"
Roxy quickly disappeared from view. I let out a long sigh. Chaff immunity, huh. I'd expected there might be mobile robots, but only of the kind with limited functions due to the chaff.
If one was chaff-immune, that changed things. If it was a type designed to operate at full capacity, it would be much tougher to face. I frowned instinctively.
"I'd better let everyone know about the chaff immunity in advance. It's not certain, but it's better to know than not."
"It's already been shared. All we have to do is board now."
Celestia showed me a screen. On it appeared: 'Danger level increased. Robots with chaff immunity may appear. Make sure to equip adequate armaments.' My wrist comm also buzzed at that moment.
- Lee Hyun-woo, there are probably chaff dispersal units all over the spaceport. I can only assist you once those are deactivated, so it's okay to prioritize that over finding the reactor.
As I replied to Licorice's message, saying I understood, I boarded the cargo hold. Celestia, who had quietly been standing at my side, snickered and followed behind.
The cargo hold was empty. Roxy had disassembled all seating and fixtures in order to fit the rail cannon inside. The only things left to hang onto were the safety handles.
Sprout, quiet until now, tapped at the scratched-up window. I sighed and scooped up the unpredictable little guy, knowing I'd have to keep an eye on him.
"Stay put. Don't come out of here."
"Ah."
Celestia gave me a strange look as she watched Sprout squirm in my hand. She must have just realized that me going down meant Sprout was coming along too.
To be honest, sprout was more of a liability in this situation. I wasn't sure what he could do, or if he could do anything at all.
He did have some sense, so probably wouldn't do anything reckless, but you never knew. I just had to watch him. For now, I stored him in my belt pouch.
After Nadia fixed the power loader's frame to the back of the shuttle, ellic and the other combatants also began boarding the cargo hold in turn.
With both supplies and personnel sharing the space, there wasn't much room, even though the Beta series didn't board.
"All personnel on board."
- Okay. Can we depart now?
"Yes."
Kanna gave the signal for departure. The shuttle core's operation hum began. Wuung. The dormant thrusters woke, emitting a blue glow.
Thud. After one jolt, the hull leaned forward and before I knew it, we passed through the wide-open storage bay bay gates. Beneath the small, armed shuttle that had completely separated from Albatross, a thick bank of fog stretched out below.
A glance out the window showed Licorice's survey drones lined up in a row, alternating red lights like runway beacons. They seemed to be awaiting our entry, planning to follow right behind us into the fog.
Albatross turned its massive hull to circle back. So did Griffin. While we carried out our operation in the fog field, they'd keep circling to block out any variables.
Another message arrived from Licorice.
- I'll try everything I can. I'm going to extend the wires to let the drones latch onto the shuttle roof, so I'll keep checking the signals that way.
Apparently, the drones would serve as markers in place of the shuttle while we traveled through the fog zone. It was a much safer option, considering the risk.
Even if the wire had a hardline cable, the moment it touched the chaff, it was as good as disconnected. That meant only manned units could enter the fog, not unmanned; we needed people to figure out something.
'So you can't just toss a drone in and reel it out like fishing.'
No matter how I set the program to standby, drones became unresponsive as soon as they entered the fog. Worse, drones attached by wire above the fog got dragged downward instead.
If they'd been destroyed, that would prove the risk, but after some time, many drones that lost signal eventually returned to the fog's surface, scratched but otherwise undamaged.
Maybe if we had more drones, but with what we had, any more experiments would overtax our supplies. We barely had enough to mark the route.
We had to consider the possibility that the Veilam spaceport itself had been transformed—like how Heaven mining base was altered, maybe biostructures covered the facility, or the spaceport's own protocol locked it down against invaders. Either way, it didn't bode well for us.
- Route confirmed, and since sensors don't work, I'm opening up the shuttle's frontal armor... Okay, we're entering the fog. Strap in, everyone.
"No straps, you took them all out."
- Haha, well, then grab a handhold! At least I left those.
The shuttle's nose dipped towards the ground. Feeling a pull from gravity, I watched as the view outside whitened in an instant—we had entered the fog.
Even though we ramped up the lights to illuminate the surroundings, the beam was scattered by the sparkling, particle-laden fog. The light itself felt diffused.
"This is..."
Celestia trailed off, losing her words. I knew what she wanted to say even without her speaking. Just the presence of fog enveloping the shuttle carried an inexplicable eeriness.
Apart from the shuttle's movement, there was no sound—not distinct, anyway, as if it too was being absorbed by the mist.
At least we were inside a shuttle. If not, it would have been like being in space; communication would have been next to impossible.
I unconsciously fiddled with the oxygen pack in the supply locker. Since the chaff was toxic, we wore helmets to keep our suits sealed.
Remembering that, I felt short of breath. We were fine for now, thanks to being inside the shuttle.
- Whiiiuu~
Just as tension and silence filled the cabin, a whistle broke the quiet—Roxy again.
- So this sensor confusion, it's all that crackle—feels like I'm blind.
"There's even noise on internal comms. I hope the shuttle core doesn't end up shutting down too."
- If the drones keep rising back up, I doubt it'll power off completely. If it does... well, nothing we can do.
While everyone else was on high alert, Roxy was having fun with the cranked-up difficulty. I had a lot to say but just shook my head—nothing I said would get through to Roxy anyway.
"Nadia, is the wire to the drone still intact?"
- Bzzzt... It's still attached, but I doubt I can go any lower. The wire is taut.
As long as we had materials, wires could keep extending. The problem was whether the drone could handle the weight. Right now, multiple drones were hooked together to bear it, but any more would be too much.
- If the wire snaps, it might get tangled in the shuttle, so if anything seems off, we have to sever it first.
"Roxy, you heard that?"
- Of course━
Just as Roxy replied, something brushed the shuttle—it was a completely unfamiliar sound. Like moist things rubbing together, or a sharp whistle rising in pitch.
'... Singing?'
I fleetingly wondered that, but quickly spoke up to analyze the situation.
"... Did you hear that just now?"
- Of course I did. Should I ascend?
I looked around at everyone in the cargo bay to check for their opinions. Those who met my gaze nodded in agreement.
With everyone in consensus, I told Roxy my suggestion—or, I would have, if Roxy hadn't spoken up first.
- Oh? Buddy, looks like ascent isn't possible. The controls are completely unresponsive.