Chapter 18, Stars Shifting

The Shockpoint experiment was a complete success; first the Hunter's Moon with an unmanned unpowered Type 18 Recon 2 model, then with the Guardian powered up, and finally a run with Izana plugged into the cockpit's various advanced sensor dataports. Every trip was a back-and-forth lap between an observable path of 120 light-seconds, from the outer edge of the asteroid belt of Planet 9 to a debris-free zone away from orbit.

The experience was nonconformal to Sidonia's known research of spacetime, but the test pilots all survived, and even better, gravity wave disturbances all resembled the same pattern observed from Nagate's disappearance. Even the representatives from Toha Heavy Industries gave a standing ovation to Kunato'a team reaching the goal so soon; they'll jointly move towards repairing the Foreigners' ShockRing and moving bigger items around, alongside replicating new drives.

Optimistically, this will be cleared for public news in a couple of days and throw off the restless population.

A message from Dr. Shinatose Yure through secured channels summoned Izana to the Captain's personal section at the top of the ship, right after the Type 18 was returned to the hangar. What could the meeting be about - hormone fluctuations pushing their lateral gender formation away from settling on female? The Doctor, that is Grandma, had shown some concern about it before. Them becoming a boy because of Nagate's absence wouldn't be a bad thing on its own, but the chemical-mental strain could be dangerous for piloting. It shouldn't require a meeting in front of the Captain's desk, though.

Yuhata was also at the door, having finished her report on the experiments: "Hi Izana! If I know ahead you'll be here too, i'd hold the elevator door open and wait for you."

"Thanks, what are you here for?"

"...Should be the same thing as yours. Let's just go."

Inside, both the Captain and Grandma were waiting for the two, masks on, hologram screens behind them projecting information surrounding the Shockpoint test.

"We have a mission for you." Captain Kobayashi said, "The next stage of the Shockpoint experiment will escalate its capacity to a new level, which is never tested before. The theoretical success rate is less than 1 out of 32, none of us will blame you if you see it as your chance of survival, and refuse today."

The next stage at a higher capacity, it could only mean one thing.

"Am I going after where Nagate went?"

"It won't be immediately reachable, but yes, you and an exploration team of your choice will enter the other universe. The mission is to conduct some time-consuming but simple experiments, and return from its equivalent location."

It was hard to suppress the hope of finding Nagate, so Izana tried to reason with their own impulse and sound more cautious: "...Won't we need to have some unmanned tests first?"

"Ideally, yes." The Captain sounded apologetic, "Though, there are only 4 Shockpoint drives and one Shockring. Sending a ship to the other side with pre-set controls may destroy it, or its Foreigner crew may abandon us."

"Some of them have developed a few dissenting ideas." Yuhata said, shrugging, "Malyech can potentially fill out the vacancy Ichigaya left behind as the local madman! I fear the public might like his words this time! Convergence, reaching out to humanity's birthplace again, eternal life, and more. Something for every taste."

"I don't want to sound self-centered, but maybe me staying with the recon squad will be more reassuring to the people... People have already started using Benisuzume in place of Ochiai to scare children. If the experience takes longer than expected, maybe they'll think Benisuzume ate my team." Izana shuddered.

Civilians and junior pilots have been feeling increasingly anxious and nervous after losing Nagate. Someone had even set fire to the Hoshijiro family house and vanished into the night, leaving behind a pamphlet that spread like mosquitos despite censorship from the civil government. The writing claimed that Shizuka was infected by Gauna radiations since the beginning, and became a temptress bent on dragging Sidonia's greatest hero to hell.

"A story of you searching for him would be valuable." Grandma said, as if she was still trying to arrange them together on the Captain's time, "Tanikaze's second drifting, and this time it's you getting him back. Isn't it romantic?"

"Ouch." They felt their face burn.

"We're rolling out new Guardian models early to help with morale." Yuhata conjured human-sized Guardian schematics with patches of handwritten notes, "This Saturday after the Weekly Meal, your Type 18R2 will perform a flyby with Tsumugi, the Type 19 for Hazama and the High-Cost Test Model for Samari."

"The last supper... Sorry." The idea was festive and ominous at the same time, like a flying funeral possession. Izana remembered the colorful fine-tuned Type 18 Commander Models used by the Akai squad on the day they were all killed on live TV in horrifying ways by just one Gauna, "Are we just getting three new ones, including mine?"

"Seii-san and Takumi-san will have their own Type 19s in another week, in the meantime every squad leader and all Honokas will have their Type 18s fitted with hardened cockpits. I just received a proposal of a Type 18 Neural Link Model sent in by one of the mechanics, too."

"It sounded like a good arrangement. There's just one thing to ask, Grandma... Could you please connect Tsumugi's hangar pipeline to the Hoshijiro residence? I have a feeling they might benefit from talking to each other. I'm confident in the mission, but it didn't feel fair for them."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Let me see, I'll reason with Kunato."

"We have time concerns for the Shockpoint mission, too." The Captain projected a screen from her private wrist computer, brought them back on topic, "The tests created Hyggs resonance never seen before, amplified by gravity shocks, and the Gauna Mass Union Ship has unfortunately noticed it."

"Shit." The news was shocking even to Yuhata, "It launched a projectile coming directly at us?"

The thing's size and speed indicated something smaller than a SMUS, maybe even smaller than the average connected-type Gauna. If it was a rock, it could punch through the seed ship from one end to the other; if it was a Gauna, it would be the LMUS' replacement for its favorite red killing machine.

"I'd suggest you design a plan to use Planet 9 and its belt to shield us, Midorikawa, but we need to destroy the projectile once it reaches Guardian operation range."

"Understood, Captain. It will reach Planet 9's orbit on... Sunday. I'll draw a course to let it bleed momentum gaining a lead on us, then..." Her voice trailed off as she took out her tablet to sketch.

"Izana." Kobayashi stepped through the holograms, "I have trust in the pathfinding ability you've shown. This expedition could very well mean Sidonia could finally settle in world free from Gauna."

////

As the colossal form of Sidonia proceeded with Yuhata's evasive course in the shadow of Planet 9, Izana anchored the Type 18R2 onto the rear of the resource mound outside the hull, alongside Tsumugi who already set up a sniping position. The new Guardian sub model lacked existing Type 18's quadruped crawler mode, to save space for new electronics and armor, so they had to let the giant humanoid weapon kneel down like a human.

Direct neural links to the Guardian's astronomical sensors transferred ballistic calculations directly into their data implant, which then communicated with an Ena cable from Tsumugi. The unidentified projectile launched by the LMUS had followed the lead as expected; but to hit it, they needed to account for factors like the gravity slingshot effect of Planet 9 and friction from the asteroid belt. Heavy Mass Cannons alongside the hull have also been activated to provide distraction, their shots carefully timed to not interfere with Tsumugi's newly constructed complex dual-ammo launcher.

In the debris field ahead, three Guardian squads were waiting, powered off to ambush the high-velocity Gauna. They were led by Samari, Honoka En and Seii; all participated in last Saturday's flyby too, the best in Sidonia's defense and expedition forces. Their were just here for mopping up the target once it has been thrown off its collision course with the ship. There was a 62-seconds window between the Gauna entering the launcher's 50% probability hit range and impacting the hull; disrupt its momentum, peel away its Ena, and it would be brought down to a manageable threat level.

This would be a perfect occasion to tie up recent events before the inter-universal Shockpoint experiment - known to the public as the "Extreme Speed Propulsion System Test".

"Gauna-HV, entering visual identification range." The bridge tactical officer announced, "Propulsion level and headings followed predictions."

"Sensors confirm the projection." Izana replied, "Tsumugi, power up your launcher, load decoy."

"Yes, Izana-san!" Many important parts of the plan were first formed in a brainstorming session right after the weekly meal where the two of them met with Yuhata at the Hoshijiro house. Napkin drawing discussions escalated to the tactical PDA in no time, and the Captain received a full proposal when they parted ways.

Tsumugi brought naturally-grown oranges, fortunately unbaked ones, from the Kunato greenhouse. Shizuka's parents easily warmed up to her; for one thing she shared a voice with their daughter's younger days, secondly the family's health insurance service denied their application for funds to cloning her in a commercially available program. The reasoning was that an undead Gauna-assimilated form of existence was a state legally illegible to receive insurance payouts, and her insurance should have been voided for criminal antisocial behavior anyway.

A screen before Izana flashed the message "ETA 15 seconds to 50% probability range". The same was simultaneously received by Tsumugi's Hyggs wave receptor, and she silently adjusted the lead of her weapon.

ETA4

ETA3

ETA2

IFF: Gauna core frequency identified - Ga-487

"487? That's just ancient. I'll have Kunato fix it when I get back today..."

ETA0

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The Type 18R2 vibrated with each ground-shaking shot. Decoy rounds zipped out of Tsumugi's complex launcher, each carrying kinetic energy rivaling lesser payloads of the Heavy Mass Cannons. They had small amounts of artificial Kabi to let Gauna-HV either chase after, or dodge from.

BOOM!

Then came the volley of ship-borne cannons, quaking the entire resource mound. All of them would force the target to enter a gradually narrowing killzone, skimming across the planet's orbit and bleeding its kinetic power.

"All Hyggs particle cannons, on my call to 0." Izana linked with Yuhata's fire control officer, "3... 2... 1... 0!"

A fine razor of blue beams converged on Gauna-HV, followed in a split second by the energy barrel on the complex launcher, igniting the Ena Re growth with resonance.

"Target shape maintained, but it's energy is draining..."

As Izana was checking for effect, Tsumugi loaded the next clip of ammunition, canisters filled with artificial Kabi shards to create a cloud of blades along the predicted trajectory; they would have the most effect within a lower relative impact speed range.

Warning: Gauna core mitosis detected

IFF: Ga-487 Ga-487 Ga-487 Ga-487

The shape of Gauna-HV was at first observable as a thin, spike-like pyramid. Now, amidst a thunderstorm of red and pink, it unfolded and split into four equal wedges, each pulling off towards a corner. Whatever incomprehensible plan the LMUS had, the splinters wouldn't be able to harm Sidonia by ramming as much.

"Activate squads?" Seii sent a text message over the non-Hyggs channel.

"Yes please." Izana pressed send, then detached their Guardian's anchors, "Let's go take them on, Tsumugi. Good shooting."

"Count on me!"

"Bridge, this will become a regular Guardian battle. Please ready hangars for launching the defense units."

"Bridge received." Yuhata was visibly relieved on the screen, "Really solid you two... Evade!"

Time slowed to a snail's pace in the Type 18R2's main display screen; one of Gauna-HV's splinters brushed by above the sniping position, showing its underside hidden by the wedged armor plates - a humanoid skeleton even more ghastly than Benisuzume's second form on the floating continent, with a stretched torso and lanky limbs. Its head was made of many skulls stacked together, each turning on its own, and the armor plate wedges were fleshy like the wings of a fox bat. Izana shuddered at its gaze, yet felt even more confused by its outdated IFF tag.

"What the fuck!" They were pulled back into the present as they heard Tsuruuchi shout, "Four of these fast ones!"

"Get to shooting!" Samari replied, "We've peeled them open already!"

Warning: High energy reaction detected.

IFF: TS-290

The skeleton spread its wings and rained lightning on everything below. This was just like the mission where Izana lost an arm and a leg, when Benisuzume used Hyggs resonance to evaporate 48 Guardians alongside their pilots in a single second.

"You can't do this!" Tsumugi shouted, firing her canister shots at the closest Gauna, "Everyone, find cover!"

"Setting cutter." An uninvited voice said in the Hyggs channel. It came from all four skeletons simultaneously, of course, "Yamano, proceeding. Begin resource salvage mission."

They could imagine their own surprised yet unamused expression right now. A new model of intelligent Gauna, but tough luck for the LMUS, Eiko's only piloting experience before being assimilated was only a failed ice mining mission. However, the Gauna that ate her was already destroyed, how could her copies be here again? Now a dilemma emerged between recording more data and saving equipments from the raw energy bombardment.

Then, the lightning storm stopped, while the twisted bony humanoid dodged the shard cloud. It pulled away, skulls still looking at Izana. Long, thin red electricity arcs formed between the skeleton and its identical companions - linking into a ring bigger than Sidonia's biggest cross section.

Beams, explosives and physical projectiles were all unleashed from the hundreds of hull-mounted turrets, but the abominations just maintained their connection and flew along the length of the ship.

"They're... Draining my energy?" Tsumugi was irritated, "Benisuzume did it before... Father, I need a cable for the launcher!"

The Type 18R2's sensors recognized the same. The new and strange Gauna units were trying to gather Hyggs particles.

Warning: High energy reaction detected.

"Yamano, returning to ship. 4-unit clasp link."

With that, the skeletons met at the prow of Sidonia, then merged into Gauna-HV again. It flew off into Planet 9's orbit, slingshotting itself back towards the LMUS.

"Situation cleared, tentatively. Resume normal patrols." Yuhata sighed, "Has Gauna learned the concept of recon by fire? Or the concept of intimidation?"