The Human Reform League, Shenzhou.
The vast plains north of the capital city, Tianjing.
This was the foremost front in the struggle against the Beta swarm…
And at the same time, humanity’s final line of defense.
The battle that had unfolded here had already lasted four hours.
And without a doubt, humanity’s mech corps was on the losing end.
The battle line was being pushed back inch by inch, and the wreckage of destroyed units could be seen scattered all around.
And it was amid this somewhat stifling atmosphere that Second Lieutenant Nan Wanxing couldn’t help but grip the control stick of her machine—the Human Reform League’s mainstay mobile suit, the MSJ-06II-A Tieren High Mobility Type.
Sweat-soaked black strands of hair clung tightly to her forehead, hanging down stickily and blocking her vision.
Even so, she had no time to wipe it away.
That alone was enough to show how dire the situation had become.
The 7th MS Company to which Nan Wanxing belonged had sortied at full strength, twenty-seven members strong.
…Yet after fighting until now, the friendly markers displayed on the radar numbered only six.
And four minutes ago, she had just received an order sent by the company commander before her death in battle, ordering Nan Wanxing to take over her authority after her own death in combat and continue commanding the 7th Company at the front.
…And yet before the sortie, they had all made a promise to return together.
So had it simply turned into a lie, just like that?
There were many things she wanted to say.
But now was not the time for her to be sentimental over such things.
The girl understood this clearly as well.
So amid the crisscrossing roar of gunfire, Nan Wanxing simply bellowed her orders over the radio.
“…After a temporary retreat, establish a new defensive line centered on the rear guard’s artillery cluster! If we’re routed here, there’s no hope left at all… Behind us is the Jibei Plains—is Tianjing City! That’s right, we absolutely cannot lose even one more time…!”
Her voice was nearly hysterical, as though she were caught in an anxiety she could not suppress.
…It wasn’t hard to understand, either.
No matter how you looked at it, the current situation was grim.
And she was, after all, merely a girl of barely eighteen.
Setting foot on the battlefield had never been what her heart truly desired.
It was only so that people like her would not continue to appear.
But was that resolve of hers going to end here?
Nan Wanxing bit down hard on her lip.
Her pretty brown eyes were now filled with a tinge of unwilling resentment.
“Second Lieutenant Nan… no, Company Commander! A new friendly unit has appeared on the radar!”
At that moment, a somewhat surprised report came through the radio from a comrade in her unit.
“Reinforcements?”
Hearing this news, Nan Wanxing was visibly overjoyed.
Yet the other party’s next reply sent her spirits plunging back into an icy abyss.
“No—that’s not it… Only one unit!”
One unit?
Then, the stragglers of some squad…?
Nan Wanxing wondered.
If that were the case, it wouldn’t be a problem.
As long as they could regroup, she could absorb him into her own unit, and he should be able to serve some use.
But nothing ever seemed to go as one hoped…
“Isn’t that… a Leo? An old-model unit that’s practically being retired—why is it here?”
“Huh. A Leo…?”
Nan Wanxing was slightly taken aback.
The OZ-06MS Leo was a mainstay unit for emergency use that the Human Reform League of this world had once imported in bulk, before it acquired the capability to independently develop mobile suits.
Now that the production of mobile suits had been perfected, the old Leos should all have been pulled back from the front lines…
To think she could still see such an antique…
It was a little surprising.
Nan Wanxing couldn’t help but think so.
—But an even more astonishing piece of news was still to come.
“That’s right, Company Commander. And moreover… he’s already left the designated defense zone. He’s expected to make contact with the enemy’s main force at any moment…!”
“…That’s impossible. Has he gone mad?!”
After hearing the series of reports from her comrade, Nan Wanxing couldn’t help but feel bewildered.
The words of doubt slipped from her mouth before she could stop them.
But then, the feeling of unease made her cast that bewilderment aside.
She was the company commander now, carrying the responsibility of ensuring her comrades would not continue to die.
So—
“Leo pilot! Stop at once—you’ve gone too far from the defense line… If you recklessly charge in without fire support, you’ll die!…”
Nan Wanxing opened the public communications channel, trying to call out.
Yet from the advancing Leo, she received no response whatsoever.
On the contrary, it accelerated even further, as though it would not rest until it plunged headlong into the Beta swarm before it.
“Could it be… psychological shock?”
Under the extremely tense circumstances, Nan Wanxing blurted out her worst-case guess.
She had studied it back at the military academy, and had seen it in the unit as well.
It was a psychological disorder caused by an overload reaction from excessive anxiety and fear, which blurred one’s perception and judgment of external stimuli, manifesting as an extraordinary numbness.
“Leo pilot, can you hear me? Don’t stray too far from the battle line!… It’s dangerous—hurry back!”
So she shouted again, somewhat anxiously.
Yet just like before, the result was no response at all.
As that Leo continued its almost blind charge forward, and was about to make contact with the ferocious swarm—
“At this rate, it won’t do… I’m going to save him!”
Driven by the instinctive urge to save another, Nan Wanxing gritted her teeth.
“Company Commander?!”
“Don’t worry about me! If I don’t make it back, command is yours!”
With that, she gently pushed the control stick in her hand.
The Tieren’s hover propulsion system activated, drawing out a high-speed mobility unbefitting its heavy frame, and it raced off in the Leo’s direction.
“Leo pilot! Come back!”
As the distance closed, Nan Wanxing once again attempted to call out.
This time, however, she finally received a different kind of reply.
But it was not human.
It was a scythe-like forelimb thrusting abruptly out of the earth.
Right after, a bizarrely shaped monstrous insect burst forth from the soil.
…At a single glance, she could tell: that was a Destroyer-class Beta.
Nan Wanxing had witnessed this class of monster on the battlefield countless times as well.
Only never once… had it been this close.
Was it an ambush?
Or had she simply happened to run into it?
…None of that mattered anymore.
What mattered right now was only the Destroyer-class’s powerful sickle arm, swinging back toward her.
“Ah…”
Nan Wanxing froze.
Her body couldn’t react in time.
Time itself seemed to have stopped.
She had only wanted to save another.
Was she going to die here first, because of this reckless goodwill?
She truly never imagined it would end like this.
Nan Wanxing closed her eyes with a trace of despair.
Though she had long anticipated a scene like this, it was just…
Now that it had come to this… she really did still hope that someone would come to save her, after all.
She thought.
…Yet, as though answering her wish, something beyond everyone’s expectations happened once again.
Zing—!
That was the sound of a blade formed of beam particles effortlessly melting through the monster’s limb.
Hearing this sound, Nan Wanxing opened her eyes in disbelief.
It turned out that the Leo had wheeled around the moment the Destroyer-class appeared, and then carved that monster into pieces with a sharp, fierce slash.
By the looks of it, its pilot had not only failed to lose his judgment—he was in fact handling the situation quite skillfully.
…The alien monster’s filthy bodily fluids, mixed with mud, splattered against the Tieren’s armor, turning into mottled specks.
And that Leo simply turned its head.
After confirming that Nan Wanxing’s unit was more or less unharmed, he raced off once more toward the dense, teeming swarm of Betas.
Then, with beam sabers and bullets flying, the Betas that had been so ferocious only moments before were effortlessly harvested in wave after wave the instant they made contact with that Leo, like rice paddies in late autumn.
Dodge, counterstrike, then advance again.
The Leo’s series of movements were so seamless they seemed like a performance choreographed in advance.
…The Betas that had originally been attacking in organized groups seemed to have their pace thrown into disarray by the activity of this one unit.
“Am I… dreaming?…”
“That’s absurd—is this really something an old model can do?”
“You’ve got to be kidding… That speed is three times the usual?!”
And so, over the unit’s communication frequency, incredulous exclamations of awe toward that mysterious Leo rose and fell in waves.
“Who on earth is that Leo’s pilot…?”
And in the end, without exception, they all converged into that same question.
The answer to that question, however, Nan Wanxing did know.
Though it had only been a brief instant of contact earlier, the scene from that moment was still clearly reflected in the girl’s mind.
She remembered: on the Leo’s simply shaped shoulder armor, a code insignia had been clearly marked in white paint.
So, almost unconsciously, Nan Wanxing—her somewhat stiffened lips murmuring—slowly read out those characters:
“…Red… One…?”
“?…Company Commander, what did you say…?”
“…It’s that pilot’s call sign.”
Nan Wanxing paused.
“That’s right. His name is Red One!…”