第四章「バーナムの森」1
CHAPTER.04 – BIRNAM WOOD (1)

Arlette and the group had almost arrived at the research facility to find three mobile suits guarding it.

“A Byarlant type…”

Arlette recalled her knowledge of the Byarlant. *A model with a high level of output; primarily used within the atmosphere. This one was likely remodeled to handle outer space combat as well.*

“I wasn’t expecting them to be packing this much firepower…”

Mehmet cursed thier enemy for taking the facility first, and one of his older subordinates gently tried to calm him. It wasn’t just the Byarlant standing there. The Gundam type and the improved type of Jegan they had fought earlier were waiting as well. It was clear now that they were all part of the same group.

“Three mobile suits…? We should’ve brought the Zaku III with us.”

“No, if we had brought it, they would’ve sensed us coming, and we’d be dealing with an ambush right about now.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

“It looks like we haven’t been noticed yet. As long as we have the initiative, there are ways we can fight.”

Mehmet spoke with a fearless smile on his face.

“But there’s no doubt about it now.”

“Yep, there objective must be the pyscho frame or the research materials for it.”

“Who the heck are they?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

Not only the Gundam type but a Byarlant as well. And multiple Jegan types to boot. For what looks like some civilian junk dealers, these guys are way too equipped for battle. On the other hand, this is likely all of their forces. If they intended to sneak into Axis with a select team, this is about the max size possible. Any larger and they would classify as an army, and Mehmet was aware that there were no forces that large on Earth at the moment.

“Arlette. Is there any way to get into the facility without passing through this here?”

“It’s not impossible, but it’ll be a huge detour.”

Arlette shrugged her shoulders as she answered.

“They conducted a lot of highly classified research there, and there were often materials they didn’t want people to see.”

“Okay…”

Mehmet furrowed his brow as he thought over his options. In that case, it looks like we’ll just have to force our way through here. But we’re likely to end up face-to-face with three mobile suits. There’s no room for error. We need a plan…

“That is if you pass through this passage.”

“What are you saying…?”

For a moment, Mehmet failed to understand Arlette and raised his head to her. She smiled back with a roguish look in her eyes.

“That facility worked on a lot of mobile space weaponry.”

“So that’s it…”

After giving it some thought, Mehmet was satisfied. The phrase “research facility” had me imagining a laboratory cut off from the outside, but in reality this was a military facility for developing mobile suits and mobile armors. In order to test those, there would’ve had to be a hatch to launch them into space.

“We’ll just have to enter from the outside.”

“The outside? As in walk across the surface of Axis?”

I have no idea how easy it will be to move around the surface without being detected. This idea came up during our tactical meeting, but we didn’t have time to consider the details. However, with an elite corps standing in our way, the outside is definitely a safer option. Having made his decision, Mehmet turned towards his subordinates behind him.

“We’ll split into two groups. Six of us, including Arlette and Danton, will take a detour to the surface and head for the research facility. The other two will stay behind and observe the enemy’s movements. If anything happens, contact us and let us know. In the event that we fail, fall back and save the combat logs.”

“Roger.”

Their reply was short and simple.

“Arlette, where is the closest exit to Axis’s outer wall?”

“I’ll show you.”

Danton sighed loudly behind them, but Arlette and Mehmet chose to ignore it.