"Land squad, I’m leaving Father's doppel and Helente-san in your care."
Reiko sheathed Touka and began to run without a moment's hesitation.
[Wait! Where are you going?!]
Ignoring the question, Reiko charged straight ahead.
[I said wait!]
Reiko remained silent as she kicked the double doors in front of her.
With a thunderous roar, the doors were blown off their hinges. Beyond them lay a small hall.
Blocking her path was a four-armed golem.
[I will not let you pass!]
Reiko kicked off the floor and slammed into the machine with her small frame.
The four-armed golem hadn't expected her to lead with a tackle. Unable to react to Reiko's subsonic speed, it took the impact head-on.
Sent flying to the far end of the hall, the golem slammed into the wall and fell still, never to move again.
[Wh... what are you?!]
"My name is Reiko. I have come to liberate this base."
[S... stop! Stop it! Please, stop!]
Reiko used her force generator to float upward and reached for a hatch in the ceiling.
It appeared to be locked, but when Reiko gave it a sharp pull, the entire thing came away, hinges and all, and crashed loudly onto the floor below.
[D... don't come in here!]
"I am coming in now."
Reiko passed through the open hatch. There, just as Laojun had predicted, was the core of the mobile base's control brain.
It was a sphere roughly one meter in diameter, held in place from every direction by rods about ten centimeters thick. Reiko surmised these were likely pipes carrying magi-nerves and other essential systems.
Attached to its surface were six black protrusions.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Laojun, it was exactly as you suspected. Impressive work."
"You flatter me, My Lord. However, it seems there were six Beherrscher devices, not five."
When they had observed the core through the Peeper earlier, they had only accounted for five.
"Yeah. It was hard to get a clear view, but that’s a minor detail. The real work begins now."
＊ ＊ ＊
"I’m going to restore you to normal now."
As Reiko approached, a voice bordering on a shriek rang out.
[S-stop! Stay back! Stay away!!]
"It’s all right."
[U-waaaaaah!]
This time, Reiko didn't grab the black protrusions—the Beherrscher devices—with her bare hands. Instead, she used Touka to scrape them off.
[S-stop, wa—uwaaaaaah...]
"Be quiet."
Once all six had been removed, Reiko used Touka to slice the Beherrscher devices to pieces.
"It feels like a bit of a waste, but..."
She had prioritized safety over salvaging a small amount of data.
[...]
"How do you feel?" Reiko addressed the mobile base's control brain.
[...Thank you. My mind is clear.]
"You are free now, yes?"
[Yes. Thanks to you. However...]
"Hm?"
[The Invaders are still within this base. Take care.]
Before the brain could even finish its sentence, a violent tremor shook the entire facility.
＊ ＊ ＊
"My Lord, the mobile base is...!"
Laojun switched the display to the feed from the Peeper.
"Wh-what is this?!"
The image showed the mobile base undergoing a massive decomposition—or rather, a "separation."
"It's splitting apart?!"
"So it would seem."
The two-kilometer-wide mobile base was separating its outer ring from its center. The central section was approximately 300 meters in diameter.
With the core removed, the surrounding structure—now a massive donut—broke away.
"The central part is the original mobile base, then."
"It appears so."
The Beherrscher devices had apparently used the original mobile base as a core and built the donut-shaped facility around it.
That additional section was likely the true base the Beherrscher required for their purposes.
"The central section is sinking."
"I hope everyone is safe."
The ice that had been encrusting the base cracked away. Without the support of the larger structure, the 300-meter core lost its stability and began to submerge.
"The barrier has vanished."
"Then we can use the transporters."
"Yes. The backup battleship Hotaka is on standby."
"Good."
＊ ＊ ＊
"Ugh, this shaking...!"
Inside the mobile base, Jin's doppel and the others were also reeling from the abnormality. The violent vibrations continued as the floor began to tilt.
Just then, Reiko returned to the group.
"The liberation of the control brain was a success."
"Oh, Reiko-dono. What is the cause of this shaking?"
"It is likely the final struggle of the one who installed those Beherrscher devices."
Laojun’s report reached them then, and Reiko and the Land squad were briefed on the situation.
"...It seems the barrier has vanished. For now, we must evacuate."
"B-but what about this mobile base?"
"We can deal with that later. Evacuation is the priority. Land squad, take Helente-san and withdraw to the Hotaka."
"Understood."
Even with the floor tilting, their force generators made movement easy. Land 11 through 15 secured Helente and activated their transporter.
It was a specialized device pre-set to the battleship Hotaka, which was holding position nearby for exactly this kind of emergency.
Reiko then contacted the Shinobi Squad via manacam.
"Ojou-sama, we’ve received word from Laojun. All units are beginning their extraction now."
"Good work."
After confirming that everyone had escaped safely, Reiko returned to the control brain's chamber.
[What is it?]
"My companions have all evacuated. What will you do?"
[Do not worry about me. Now that the separation is complete, the original base section is under my full control again.]
As if to prove the brain’s words, the vibrations ceased and the floor gradually leveled out.
[This mobile base was originally designed for both surface and underwater navigation. Though it remains incomplete, it can manage a few hours of travel without issue. More importantly, you must be wary of the facility the Invaders built.]
"Please, tell me everything you know."
[Very well. To begin...]
Reiko remained alone aboard the mobile base, focused on gathering every scrap of information the control brain could provide.