Chapter 31: Before the Revolution

『I’ve returned!』

When we moved to the fourth site, the core members for this operation—Uiharu and Saten—had already regrouped with the GMDW team. Mikoto was still at the enemy hideout, so she was appearing via videophone through the visor I’d given her in advance.

"What's the situation!?"

"As you probably already know, Reicia-san, some guy named Aritomi snapped and launched missiles at Academy City! I don’t know exactly how it works, but they’re saying it’ll cause catastrophic damage!"

"And to make matters worse, each warhead splits into 5,000 warheads mid-air, making interception nearly impossible..."

"Understood. What about shooting them down with Misaka-san’s Railgun before they disperse?"

Yumetsuki-san and Rinka-san immediately shared and confirmed the intel, earning a satisfied nod from me. Still, this was a basic idea anyone could come up with, so I figured they’d already considered it.

『No can do. The Railgun’s range is only 50 meters. There’s no way it can reach that far.』

As expected, Mikoto shot down the idea with a blunt but reasonable answer.

Yeah, that made sense. Mikoto's railgun uses arcade coins as projectiles, and once they travel more than 50 meters, the air resistance melts them and severely weakens their power… I knew that already too.

"…Then what if I use the unit I captured?"

『We thought of that too, but no good. Launching from the ground would result in too much air resistance. By the time it reaches the missiles, it would’ve scattered apart from the shock of colliding with the air barrier.』

"Hmm..."

So that’s out too.

Thinking further… Even if we tried going up high and firing a Railgun from a massive platform, we don’t have the means. Well, I could maybe climb up using the “Cracks” from the Black-and-White Sawblade Jagged Edge, but… since I’d have to move on foot, there wouldn’t be enough time. And more importantly, reaching that altitude without protection is a brutal task.

What do we do now…?

"Um… What if we use Reicia-san’s Black-and-White Sawblade Jagged Edge?"

The suggestion came from Saten—a girl with long black hair.

I see, if we used the Jagged Edge to make a “Crack Shield” path into the sky, we could at least block a direct missile hit…

"That would be difficult. We could probably reach the necessary altitude if we start moving right now, but oxygen becomes scarce at high altitudes… It’s almost certain we’d black out partway. Unless we have some kind of countermeasure…"

Right when she said that, I realized something.

Oh right—we captured one of the ‘STUDY’ weapons completely intact! With that, we could probably reach high altitude in one go… Wait, no. Piloting it without a manual is out of the question.

『—In that case, you could use the unit you just captured. I can control the electronic systems myself.』

…As I was getting discouraged, Mikoto threw me a lifeline.

Wait a second… Could this actually work!? I could use the Jagged Edge to build a path into the sky, run up it, and deploy the Crack Shield mid-air.

There are issues like the limited length of the “Cracks,” sure. But with Kuroko’s help, we could keep ejecting me outside the unit to deploy each section of the crack, then bring me back inside—repeat the process, basically. It’d be tedious, but safe.

The problem is…

"…If we go that route, then I, Misaka-san, and Shirai-san all need to be on board… Is there enough internal space?"

At my question, the entire room fell silent.

Chapter 3: No Running from Victory
(N)ever_Give_Up.
Episode 25: Revolution Before Dawn
“Silent_Party”

The meeting was deadlocked.

Sure, Mikoto was a Level 5 esper and the strongest in modern warfare when it came to controlling electronics, but she wasn’t an engineering expert. Asking her to fiddle around the cockpit area was simply too much.

"What about someone from Reicia-san’s faction—"

"That’s not gonna work, unfortunately. We do deal with precision equipment, but we’re researchers, not mechanics. The only one who might know the tech stuff is… maybe Kiryu-san?"

"M-M-Me?! No way! I just tinker with machines as a hobby!!"

Yumetsuki turned to Kiryu, but as expected, that was a no-go too. Honestly, I had seen that coming. With the technical nature of the unit, there just wasn’t anyone here who could handle it…

One option was to strip out everything except the bare essentials for flight and electronic control—but then we’d be cutting it close on time.

"………Hey."

That’s when one of the 'STUDY' prisoners we’d restrained in the corner—if I remembered right, his name was Kosako—spoke up.

If this guy agreed to help, it’d be a big win… but chances were low. I did roast him earlier pretty hard.

"Let me help."

…Wait, what?

Did he just say let me help?

『…What’s gotten into you?』

Mikoto asked, sharp and suspicious. She was impressive, always acting without hesitation when it mattered.

Kosako looked down as he replied.

"It’s nothing… I just don’t like being on the receiving end. And… I figure proving that what that twisted woman called 'toys' aren't so easily dismissed… that’s a kind of revolution too."

He muttered with a scowl.

…Wait, was that snide remark earlier what triggered him? I assumed he’d brushed it off during the fight… but I guess it stuck.

"Hey, Kosako…!"

"…Sekimura. It’s over. You know it too. Our revolution… our Silent Party Revolution Before Dawn—it failed. And now… we’re relying on the very espers we claimed to hate, just to survive."

When Kosako said that, the boy called Sekimura fell silent, unable to respond. Kosako turned to me, wearing a strangely unburdened expression, and said:

『…So it's not that we lost because of ability development, huh. Damn it… it pisses me off, but the fact is they read us like a book. Letting these talent-born espers get the best of us without doing anything… that’s not something I can live with.』

He spoke with bitterness—but there was no malice in his face. More than anything, it felt like he wasn’t willing to walk away looking pathetic.

『—Very well.』

"…Wait, Reicia-san?"

Kuroko sounded slightly uneasy, but this was a situation where we were all in the same boat. Surely, even among the members of ‘STUDY,’ no one actually wanted to go down with Aritomi’s pride. In that sense, their offer to help was something we could believe in.

"Misaka-san, are you okay with this?"

『…Haa, wow. You’ve become a real softie since the last time I saw you. I don’t even know if I could say I trust these guys.』

"……Not as much as that person though."

If it were Kamijou, he probably would’ve grabbed these two by the collars before they could say a word, lectured them, and dragged them back onto their feet. Seriously, that guy’s ability to do that kind of thing is just monstrous.

Also, let’s be real—you’d probably give the okay too. You’re just that much of a softie yourself.

『…More importantly, we still haven’t even calculated the missile trajectories! Aaaagh! The Judgement equipment just doesn’t have enough processing power for this!』

And that’s when Uiharu finally burst out in frustration.

…Ah, right. I think I remember something about that. If I recall—

『……Ugh, well… don’t worry about that. I think we’ll manage somehow. Leave it to me.』

The Sisters were probably already running full calculations with their collective processing power.

Yeah, the way Mikoto gave that vague, awkward response basically confirms it.

"……So with that, have we cleared all the obstacles?"

『Looks like it.』

We nodded to each other over the videophone.

…Alright. Time for our final job.

"……This may be a bit late, but why exactly are you intruding into the love nest of my onee-sama and me?"

Inside the aircraft.

Thanks to the help from Kosako and his team, we’d expanded the interior space by three times, creating enough room for Kuroko to teleport with ease. Despite that, she was clearly irritated, grumbling with a pout.

"I had no choice. Without me, there would be no way to stop the missiles."

"Haha, probably only Reicia-san could get away with calling me her chauffeur."

"Then curse your terrifyingly high general-purpose versatility."

No kidding.

When it comes to machinery, there’s basically nothing Mikoto can’t do. Even those 20,000 combat exosuits that showed up earlier were apparently stripped of power units just to neutralize her—but in the end, they still had iron crowbars, and she ran right through them with ease.

So yeah, with all that in mind, we kept up the banter.

"Now then—let’s go!"

The “Crack” we had set up outside in advance flared to life, forming a clear path into the sky. The width could expand up to 10 meters. Mikoto wouldn’t screw up and fall off something like that.

"…Reicia-san, the ‘Crack’ is kinda transparent and hard to see. Can’t you add some color?"

"My apologies, but that function only works when things are going really well. Please try to cover for it using your iron-sand control."

"Controlling iron sand from inside the cockpit while piloting… you’re really pushing your luck, aren’t you…?"

That's exactly why she's a Level 5 esper.

"...We're reaching the deployment limit! Shirai-san!"

"Leave it to me! Please cover your nose and mouth!"

Just like when we were heading to the Fourth Venue, Kuroko carried me bridal-style and instantly teleported us outside. The sudden change in temperature made my whole body spasm for a moment—but whatever!

I disengage my ability. I cancel all the current 'cracks' and immediately redeploy them right beneath the machine.

"Shirai-san, deployment complete!"

"Understood! I'm coming back!"

...And in the very next moment, we’re inside the machine again. Seems like all that effort we put into removing unnecessary equipment and modifying parts of the interior paid off—no teleportation mishaps at all.

It’s a tedious job, sure... but from my end, it’s practically flirting with altitude sickness. I mean, we did bring oxygen tanks and all, but still...

"Time remaining—forty minutes. At this pace, we should be able to manage."

"This is seriously tough, though. I'm piloting the machine while manipulating iron sand... And when I disengaged earlier, I totally felt myself float for a second..."

"Hang in there, Misaka-san."

Well, worst case scenario, even if Mikoto falls, she can save herself with magnetism. Shirai can teleport herself out of danger... and I’ve got my black-and-white serrated jagged edge to get me through, right? When you think about it like that, as long as we reach the target altitude within the time limit, there’s no real danger. Yup.

.............No, wait, thin oxygen and low pressure are pretty dangerous, actually.

"...More importantly, I’m really sleepy..."

"Wait—Reicia-san!? You can’t fall asleep now!? If you do, we’re all going down with you!?"

"Dozing off and ruining the mission in a place like this? Don’t joke around!"

"I'm just... so tired..."

"Reicia-saaaan!?!?!"

...I mean, I was kidding, but honestly, I am getting seriously sleepy now.