The skies over Europa in late summer and early autumn were tranquil and serene. The glittering stars above shone like droplets of liquid light scattered across the vast canvas of mountains and rivers, mirroring the constellations twinkling high above.
Suddenly—rumble, rumble, rumble!—
Thunderous roars tore through the sky, rolling from distant to near, from low to high. The air molecules in the atmosphere began to vibrate imperceptibly—the unmistakable sound of multiple flying objects moving at high speed, breaking through the sound barrier.
A pinkish glow grew ever brighter.
Five trails in total—diamond-shaped shockwaves interlaced with rocket exhaust plumes—pierced through the night sky with astounding velocity. The once-dark expanse now shimmered with waves of pink light.
It was the color produced by the full combustion of Sakura Dite fuel.
Five massive rockets thundered upward toward their designated low-orbit altitude.
Painted in yellow, white, and blue, marked with the W-ZERO insignia, they declared their identity and purpose—[Apollo's Chariot], carrying out the Wyvern Squadron's airborne surprise assault operation. Destination: Eastern Front, Sector 23D—Daugavpils, Latvia.
As the altitude increased and the air thinned, the bright rocket flames gradually diffused into the void, until the once pink-tinted sky turned once more into a sea of stars.
Inside the payload module of Apollo-001, in the No. 01 descent capsule, within the cockpit of her [Alexander Type-02 Commander Model] Knightmare Frame, Leila, clad in W-ZERO's specialized G-suit, had no time to admire the breathtaking view outside.
The ascent stage, excruciating as it was, had ended. Now came the critical orbital flight stage.
A single deviation—or any malfunction—and the mission wouldn't just fail. They'd die in transit, turned into astronauts for eternity.
Anna, I'm counting on you!
Enduring the dizziness and nausea caused by shifting pressure—a near high-altitude sickness—Leila drew a deep breath, pressing herself back against the seat. Her hands came together over her chest in silent prayer.
She believed in her friend's skill and dedication.
[Apollo's Chariot] had undergone countless simulations and full-system checks—no faults, no anomalies. Everything should be fine…
All she had to do now was maintain the morale of her hundred-strong Wyvern Squadron and ensure the rocket followed the parameters calculated by the Weisswolf Base technicians.
Beep-beep.
"Three minutes—first engine burn complete."
"First-stage separation—confirmed."
"Second engine ignition—successful."
...
Leila and the entire Wyvern Squadron maintained smooth communication with Weisswolf Base. The control operations were proceeding with precision.
[Control systems and flight circuits—nominal.]
[Trajectory—stable.]
[Altitude: 255 kilometers.]
[Velocity: 5.6 kilometers per second.]
"[Apollo's Chariot]—second engine burn complete."
"Commander Malcal, the Wyvern Squadron has successfully entered the designated orbit. Inertial flight—stable."
Finally, the comms officer's excited voice came through, and Leila exhaled in relief.
Immediately, she opened the encrypted Wyvern Squadron channel. "All units, report status."
"Hyuga Team, no abnormalities."
The first to respond, naturally, was her ace and trusted ally, Akito Hyuga.
"Egorov Team, no abnormalities."
"Louis Team, all normal."
...
Excellent. The intensive simulation training hadn't been in vain. Leila nodded in satisfaction.
Next, she flipped a switch on the control stick, activating her Knightmare's human-machine interface.
The feed from [Apollo's Chariot]'s external cameras was then shared to all Wyvern personnel.
"To better deceive Britannia's European forces, our Wyvern Squadron's [Apollo's Chariot] will not launch directly toward the Eastern Front. Instead, we're first heading south—over Italy and the Mediterranean—posing as a deployment to the Central or Southern African fronts. Once we reach low orbit, we'll use inertial flight to reorient, then execute a surprise atmospheric descent."
Leila delivered her concise explanation of Operation Gamma's tactical details.
It wasn't that no one had proposed an airborne assault on St. Petersburg—a surprise attack on the Grand Imperial Palace to assassinate Britannia's Third Princess, Vela. But without exception, every such plan was vetoed by General Smilas and Leila.
There were better ways to throw one's life away.
A few mechs—dozens, even a hundred Knightmare Frames—storming Vela's Royal Guard Corps? Absurd.
As for the suggestion to pack [Apollo's Chariot] with high explosives—it wasn't impossible, just unnecessary. The Forty-Man National Defense Council refused it.
Seeking to keep the war within a semblance of civility, and bound by humanitarian principles that forbade indiscriminate civilian casualties, the Council vetoed the proposal to fill [Apollo's Chariot]'s payload bay with explosives.
After all, Britannia also possessed rockets capable of launching satellites, and their scientific advancement was progressing rapidly.
The E.U. did have a noticeable technological edge in this field, yes—but not enough to deliver a decisive blow. They could disgust or threaten Britannia, but not destroy it.
If this mutual, beyond-visual-range exchange of massive rockets ever became normalized—if Pandora's box were opened—the world would lose all safe havens. That was something the Councilmen absolutely refused to see happen.
Better to stay civilized, after all.
Of course, if they did possess a warhead capable of leveling an entire city with one launch—one absolute, decisive weapon—they wouldn't hesitate to drop it on every Britannian metropolis.
Civilization and humanity? Those words would mean nothing then.
"Eastern and southern fronts still need time to coordinate their cover and support. Our inertial flight will continue for a while longer. Everyone, you can relax for now. I don't know if you enjoy stargazing—but permissions are unlocked."
At that, having calmed her restless thoughts, Leila finally allowed herself to look out upon the Earth from hundreds of kilometers above.
It was a new sensation for her as well—weightlessness. Her body floated lightly, untethered.
"What a strange feeling," she murmured.
Reaching for the floating holographic tactical terminal, Leila tapped her earpiece with a small smile. "Anna, if you ever get the chance, you should try this too."
Below her, Earth's night-side gleamed with countless pinpoints of light—cities glowing like circuit hubs, spilling millions of watts of energy across the darkness.
From another comm channel, the spiky-haired delinquent Ryo Sayama stretched his arms and commented, "Not a bad view—for my last memory."
"Those places where people live—it'd be better if they were all wiped out," said Yukiya Naruse, grinning with a deranged expression, his voice in the squad channel filled with unsettling amusement.
"So beautiful," murmured Ayano Kosaka, the only woman among the trio of troublemakers.
Using her commander privileges, Leila quietly listened to her soldiers' chatter and sighs—except for one man, who remained completely silent.
"Akito."
Leila called out. "This must be your first time in space, right? How does it feel?"
"…"
A pause.
"Commander. Why did you involve yourself with the Wyvern Squadron?"
A question answering a question.
Akito spoke, his tone calm but firm: "Even if you felt guilty, unwilling to sit safely at Weisswolf while others fought, the Hammel Squadron's position would've been the proper place for a commander. Not this. Commander, your decision this time—it isn't rational."
Not rational…?
Leila's eyes flickered with a trace of emotion before she exhaled softly.
When she opened them again, her golden eyes were resolute.
"As the commanding officer of W-ZERO, and one of the architects of this operation, I want to take responsibility for ensuring everyone returns alive. Otherwise, I'd be no better than Anou. I don't think that's foolish."
Her voice was slow but unwavering, every word sharp and decisive.
"You're still bound by your ideals," Akito replied. "Please don't regret this, Commander."
"I won't."
Their brief debate ended there.
Just as Leila was preparing to review the mission parameters again, a voice came through her headset—Anna's.
"Third-stage engine ignition commencing. Apollo-001 descent capsule separation countdown: one minute, thirty seconds. Leila, prepare for separation."
During the same moment, Akito's voice cut in—cool and steady as always.
"When the battle starts, stay close to me."
"Everyone, prepare for separation," Leila commanded firmly.
...
Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!
The ground quaked like a struck drum.
Each thunderous explosion pounded into the soul like a hammer blow.
The air was thick with the scent of blood and unease.
It was as though the Eastern European battlefield itself was greeting Leila with a salute of artillery.
At the junction between the Britannia-occupied Baltic States and the E.U.-controlled Belarusian front—Sector 23D, Daugavpils, Latvia.
This was a world utterly different from Paris, or the Weisswolf Base in the German Autonomous Zone.
Whoosh… whoosh…
Breaking free from the descent module, Leila deployed her Knightmare's control wings to glide and decelerate. Under the dim twilight before dawn, with the noise of nighttime artillery duels between the E.U. and Britannia masking her descent, she piloted her customized [Alexander Type-02 Commander Model] down into the deep battlefield interior.
Chaff, decoys, and new-generation jammers had all been released or activated.
During the descent, through her mech's enhanced composite sensors and live-feed detectors, Leila witnessed the horrifying spectacle of war consuming everything below.
From above, the view was filled with smoke and ruin.
Daugavpils—once the second-largest city in Latvia, spanning 725 square kilometers with a pre-war population of 150,000—was now a near-total wasteland. Not a single intact building in sight.
Yet the E.U. forces seemed to hold a slight advantage—they had taken the city center?
"Commander, you've reached descent altitude," Akito's calm voice reminded her as her unit skimmed past the outskirts toward the forest.
"Oh… right…"
No matter how well she'd performed in simulations, Leila's natural piloting skill and reflexes were far from exceptional.
Boom!
She released the control-wing module. The mech crashed down heavily, rolling several times in beast form to dissipate momentum. The massive impact jolted her body forward, then back, as the safety harness creaked but held firm.
"Cough… cough… All units, check your equipment and report. Transmit coordinates and rally at my position."
Her chest still felt crushed by inertia as she coughed out the words.
"Commander."
Akito's customized [Alexander Type-01]—heavily modified—was the first to arrive. The moment he landed, he moved toward her immediately.
"How's your team?" Leila asked.
"No casualties. But they can't be trusted."
Akito made no effort to hide his distrust toward Ryo Sayama and his two companions.
Unlike in the original timeline, where Leila had spent time and effort trying to reason with and guide them, this timeline—accelerated and reshaped by the pressure of a certain powerful Third Princess—had unfolded differently. The W-ZERO Unit had expanded more rapidly, and manpower shortages were no longer a concern. Leila's attention had been divided elsewhere.
"Also, Commander," Akito continued gravely, "I have a bad feeling. Everything's gone too smoothly—the resistance was almost nonexistent… This is St. Michael Knights' territory. That man's unit."
Leila's expression flickered with unease.
At that instant, the hum of electromagnetic rifles split the silence of the forest.
"Who fired—?"
Before she could finish, Akito tackled her mech to the ground.
"Ryo Sayama. Am I supposed to understand this as desertion?"
"Tch! Who the hell do you think you are? Our captain?"
Ryo shouted gleefully, piloting one of the new-model W-ZERO mechs—using it to attack the W-ZERO commander herself.
"Hey, Yukiya, Ayano—move it! Before the other weaklings get here, let's finish them off!"
"Got it! Yukiya, hurry up!"
From the speakers, Ayano Kosaka's voice rang with raw desperation—a hunger for freedom.
Finally, they'd escaped that damned fortress. Who needed saving anymore? With their new mechs, they were gone. Only a fool would stay and fight Britannia's main force head-on.
"Yes, yes," drawled Yukiya Naruse from the farthest position, that eerie grin still twisting his lips.
In his sniper-specialized [Alexander], he aimed a massive electromagnetic sniper rifle directly at Akito—locked in combat with Ryo—and at Leila, whose command-type mech had just transformed into humanoid form.
"Goodbye, naive little princess commander. Someone like you could never understand us."
He grinned wider—and pulled the trigger.
But—
Whizz! A shell screamed through the forest, striking the sniper rifle with a crackling explosion.
BOOM! A shockwave of heat engulfed Yukiya's [Alexander]. On his display, it was as if he'd been hit head-on by a speeding car—his mech lurched violently, torn apart piece by piece.
"Yukiya!!" two voices cried in unison.
Leila turned toward the source of the shot.
Wyvern reinforcements?
Wait—a cape?!
"Enemy attack! It's Britannian forces!!"