An impenetrable layer of clouds hid the stars from sight.
It was too dark to differentiate the ocean from the night sky until the de Danaan broke the surface, oozing from the black.
The giant ship turned east-southeast to face the coast.
Amid the groaning of turning gears, the top of the de Danaan started retracting from left to right, slowly and heavily. The double-layered hull finished opening, exposing the flight deck.
Still, there was hardly any light—just the fingertip-sized diodes' feeble attempts at illumination. The deckhands all wore night-vision goggles. The darkness was a disguise, designed to prevent people wandering along the beach from spotting the ship.
Shortly, helicopters of all shapes and sizes rose from the ship, followed by VTOL fighters.
As soon as the airborne forces finished taking off, a buzzer sounded on the flight deck and an elevator carried up an M9 from the lower storage deck.
It was the mech Melissa Mao piloted. Its shoulder marking identified it as 101.
"Well, here we go," she mumbled.
"I wish we had some music," Kurz's voice broke into Mao's cockpit. He was in an M9 on the platform next to her. "Maybe
"Do you think Wagner is really appropriate here?"
"How about Kenny Loggins?" he proposed.
"Can't you think of any songs that aren't about charging blindly into danger?"
"Aw, shaddup. What, do you want some Masahi Sada?"
"I don't even know who that is."
The elevator stopped. Through night-vision sensors, the catapult apparatus on the flight deck appeared to belch steam, making it look like an open refrigerator.
Kurz's AS invaded the right-hand side of Mao's display screen. His M9 looked exactly like Mao's, except for the head—Mao was the platoon leader, so her M9 had extra gizmos and communications equipment.
Each mech wore a collapsible-wing rocket pack. These were the urgent deployment boosters designed to fling an AS straight into an operation zone.
Mao marched her AS to the catapult's shuttle block. When the AS squatted into place, it looked like a sprinter awaiting the starter pistol.
"I wonder if that maniac is still alive," said Kurz.
"Don't say things like that. It's bad luck," scolded Mao.
"Whoa, girl! You're not worried about him, are you?"
"I am. Unlike you, Sousuke has a good side," she stated.
"I'll show you my good side later," Kurz snickered. "In private."
Melissa sighed. "You vulgar little troll."
A small electric sound signaled a message from the departure control officer.
"Urzu Two: thirty seconds until departure."
"Urzu Two, copy. You catch that, Urzu Six?"
"I heard it. I'll be ten seconds behind you," reported Kurz.
Fixing her mech on the catapult stand, Mao quickly ran through the pre-launch inspections: shaking the fuel pump, wiggling the main wing and stabilizer, and checking the pedal lock and the equipment fasteners. Everything was in order.
"All clear. Here I go."
The blast deflector rose up. The deck crew gave Mao the go– ahead hand signal, and the mech's AI informed her she could go at any time.
"Counting down from five," said the machine, sinking into place.
"Three." The steam catapult got ready.
"Two." The nozzle contracted.
"One." The flames left a trail.
"Blast off."
The catapult and booster roared with a total of one-hundred twenty tons of thrust, accelerated to three hundred miles per hour! And just like that, the M9 Gernsback was airborne, slicing the night air and picking up speed.
"Entering combat," reported Mao.
Withstanding intense vibrations, she licked her lips.
Men scrambled from the wreckage of their tanks.
"Excellent."
Having destroyed the tanks, Sousuke turned his AS toward the hangar, where Kaname was waiting for him. They had to escape quickly, before more opposition forces arrived.
"Chidori!" Sousuke's voice ripped through the external speaker.
Meekly, Kaname peeked out from behind a collapsed wall. She looked pale, timid, frightened, and cornered. Finally, she seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.
"You won?" she squeaked just loud enough to make it into the Savage's speakers.
Sousuke extended the machine's left hand and said, "Grab on. We're leaving the base now."
There was a hill to the northwest of the base, past a river and a highway. The large number of fir trees looked like a good place to hide for the time being.
Kaname poked at a finger as large as her leg and said, "You want me to get on this?"
"Correct. Sit right on the palm. Quickly."
"B-but—"
"Hurry!"
Fearing another scolding, Kaname cautiously climbed onto the metal hand. Carefully, Sousuke lifted Kaname and began to run, literally taking Kaname's breath away. She clung to the machine's huge thumb.
