A Certain Magical Index NT, Vol. 3 by Kazuma Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura

Author:Kazuma Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura [Kamachi, Kazuma and Haimura, Kiyotaka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On
Published: 2024-09-17T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

Collapse of Rules and Isolation

Trident.

[Nov. 10 / Source: California, a military activity–recording camera at Grand Arrow Air Force Base]

The commotion spread all the way to the largest Air Force base on the western seaboard, growing stronger as one moved inward from the ground crews doing final checks on fighter jets, to the pilots waiting for orders to launch, to those higher up in the base, and to central command.

Alfred Thirdman, the base’s commanding officer, skimmed a thick sheaf of documents, then tossed it aside. Stomping on the useless scraps of paper with his boot, he raised his voice and yelled.

“You dumbass! Identifying the enemy faction can wait! The president’s safety takes top priority right now! They’re trying to kill everyone! Don’t you understand that I’m telling you to run the calculations and tell us if we can sortie?! How far is the ash spreading?! What’s its altitude? And how thick is it?!”

Something inexplicable was displayed on the satellite feed. Large numbers of troops had made landfall on the eight main islands making up the state of Hawaii. Evidently, some of the tankers and passenger boats out on the open sea had been disguised landing ships. Hovercrafts on huge air cushions were bringing in all types of personnel, including soldiers, machines of war such as ATVs and armored cars, and even anti-ship missile units. At a glance, they numbered a little under seven thousand.

However, aside from the soldiers actually fighting on the front lines, there would have to be maintenance crews and comm teams providing rear support. Add them into the mix, and that number could reach over ten thousand.

The force was large enough to cover a whole division.

And yet the military had somehow overlooked them until this very moment—and more to the point, they’d allowed U.S. territory to be invaded. It was enough to make the blood vessels in Alfred’s temples squirm, and he knew it.

One of his subordinates gave a report. Either the man was afraid of the situation unfolding before their eyes, or he was just scared of the CO.

“S-sir, the mass of smoke is very dense and has spread over a very wide area, with Mount Kilauea at its center. We tried using satellite laser scans, but there’s very little hope of them piercing the cloud. If we launch our fighters into smoke that thick, they’ll almost certainly have engine trouble…”

“What about the trade winds? They might drive the spread in a certain direction. The western side—Guam, Yokosuka—might be out, but can we give them air support from the mainland here in the east?!”

“The ash is dispersing in all directions, sir. It’s not quite going toward the rest of Hawaii. The, uh, the entire area two hundred miles around it is unable to be used.”

Alfred clicked his teeth in annoyance, then slammed the tip of his boot into the utterly unhelpful console.

The Hawaiian Islands hosted the biggest aggregation of military power in the entire Pacific region—but considering the developing crisis, he wasn’t even sure how much that would matter.

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