Episode 12 — The Great Train Robbery 1

Gaia Legion's train station.

Three new-model armored vehicles, slated for mass production and deployment in the next official match, sat locked down securely on the rearmost platform car. In the three cargo cars ahead of them were stockpiles of weapons and ammunition prepared for the upcoming season.

Despite the early hour, plenty of users bustled about the platform, standing guard or checking cargo manifests.

Meanwhile, in a clearing hidden in the forest on the opposite side, the Professor's team vehicle sat parked. A reinforced makeshift turret had been installed on the rim of the roof over the back seats, a 40mm grenade autocannon mounted heavily inside it.

"You're sure about this?"

At Sister's worried question, the Professor gave a short laugh.

"I'm a professional, Grave."

"...I know that."

"Then you already know the answer."

He secured the bag holding his sniper rifle to the mounting joint at the small of his back and strapped the folding reinforced armor plate Cuticle had given him firmly across his back.

"Shadow. Go ahead."

"Right."

At the Professor's order, she pulled up her mask and lowered her goggles, sprinting nimbly toward the train.

The Professor spent a moment checking over the new gauntlets he'd equipped, then set off himself, calm but brisk. Shadow had already melted into some convenient shadow and vanished from sight, but the Professor paid it no mind, making his own way to position.

Slipping quietly toward the lead engine car, he glanced around briefly to check for anyone nearby, then rolled his body into the gap between the rails and the train.

He'd already scoped out the location of the emergency trapdoor on the vehicle's undercarriage beforehand, so he crawled on his back, lining the trapdoor up near his feet, then hooked his hands and feet firmly onto the maintenance safety bars mounted beneath the car and hung there.

About 36 minutes until the train reached its destination. The operation was scheduled to begin ten minutes after departure — meaning he'd need to hold this position for the next ten minutes.

Just as he'd settled into place and started surveying the surroundings, footsteps sounded from the direction he'd come.

"........."

Glancing carefully to the side, he spotted a pair of legs — uniform trousers and combat boots, unmistakably Gaia Legion — walking by at an unhurried pace.

Luckily, he'd already completed his infiltration before this user had come around to check the area.

"Hey! Nothing over there, right?"

"Uh — nope! Nothing much!"

"Good! Departure's in a minute! Hurry back!"

"What's for lunch today, anyway?"

"You planning to eat here again?"

"You're the one who eats here too, senior!"

The guard, still chatting away across the length of the train, headed off at a brisk pace toward the station platform.

Just as they'd said, one minute later, a low humming sound rang out as the train's wheels folded inward and disappeared, and the train transformed into a full electromagnetic levitation configuration — riding on a magnetic field generated by transmission frames wrapping the rails from above and to the sides, allowing high-speed travel.

"Departing now! Departing—!"

With the engineer NPC's booming announcement, the train pulled out.

Hearing that from the clearing, the two women immediately began their own preparations. Whis-Kiss pulled out her whiskey flask again for a couple of swigs, while Grave grabbed one of the box magazines stacked in the back seat and loaded it into the autocannon.

"Let's go, Kiss!"

"Yes, Sis!"

Their vehicle roared forward, tearing through the trees, tracking the train's path.

Ten minutes after departure.

Right on schedule, the Professor pried the trapdoor open with his foot. The sliding trapdoor swung open quietly, and he used the safety bars he'd been gripping as a makeshift ladder, lowering himself feet-first into the car.

He was defenseless in that moment, but having already scanned for guard positions using his visor's vibration sensors pressed against the vehicle's underside, he moved without hesitation.

Once he'd carefully pulled his whole body inside, he closed the trapdoor behind him as if nothing had happened and drew his sidearm — a pistol.

"...Is that new armored vehicle really that impressive?"

"Not totally sure myself. But the captain said they finally applied some new material that can supposedly stop most anti-tank shells without a problem."

"That's incredible."

The two users guarding the engine car, deep in conversation, dropped without a sound as he shot them from behind.

Now it was a race against time. In about six minutes, this train would pass the junction — and if it didn't switch tracks, it would continue on to its original destination.

He immediately fried the engine room door's lock with a stun device, forced the door open, and stepped inside.

"—?! Wh-who's there?!"

"...Call me a mercenary. I'm taking this train."

"Wh-what?!"

The NPC, startled, reached for the pistol concealed at his waist, but the Professor, seeing it coming, pressed his own pistol to the man's forehead first.

"Kuh—!"

"I'm not asking you to stop, and I'm not asking you to disable the brakes."

"Th-then what do you want?!"

"Throw the lever for the next track junction."

"...!!"

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, without waiting for an answer, a gunshot rang out and the engineer NPC dropped.

The Professor coolly dragged the corpse to the engine room door, tossed it out, and shut the door behind him.

"Shadow. Beginning the operation."

He reached the visor's radio function to contact her. A soft tap-tap-tap sounded in his ear — an acknowledgment.

Having already noted which lever the engineer had unconsciously glanced at when threatened, the Professor pulled it without hesitation. Once he confirmed on the engine room's screen that the track junction ahead had switched direction, he pulled out the folding armor plate from his back.

"This is where it gets interesting."

He wedged the plate against the door and unfolded it upward, ensuring that even if the door was breached, the armor plate would block the gap. It was a precaution in case the train's control panel took a hit during a firefight — no telling what might happen then.

He smashed out the glass of the engine room door with the butt of his pistol, then unfolded the bag at his waist.

"Better hope they're slow on the uptake..."

He assembled his sniper rifle, set the bipod atop the unfolded armor plate, and aimed through the broken window. Since every car's door was positioned dead center, anyone trying to cross the cars toward the engine room would present an easy shot.

Soon, the rear cars grew noisy — the dead users had apparently gotten word out.

"Shadow. Stand by near the cargo cars, just in case. Worst case, they might try to detach the cargo cars and retrieve them separately."

Having addressed even that last lingering concern through Shadow, the Professor settled in calmly behind the scope and waited.

Soon, a round shadow appeared through the doors connecting the cars in the distance—

The sniper rifle the Professor had brought today was a large-caliber anti-materiel rifle, one typically used to shoot targets aboard vehicles — firing high-velocity 50-caliber armor-piercing rounds. For a shot guaranteed to punch clean through multiple train cars, this weapon was ideal.

The bullet tore through two panes of glass in the connecting doors in a single instant, striking its target. Blood sprayed across the window as the round silhouette crumpled and vanished from view.

"One down."

In response, Gaia Legion users began jutting their guns through the shattered window and firing wildly.

"Damn sniper! Die already—!"

"Keep shooting! Don't let him line up another shot!"

Despite their disciplined resistance, the Professor merely gave a short laugh and pressed a button on his scope. With a click, the scope's view switched to thermal imaging mode, and a user's silhouette lit up in red beyond the cars.

"Bad luck for you."

Another satisfying report rang out, and the bullet punched clean through the car walls, finding its mark. Through the thermal view, the red silhouette crumpled and vanished, and the shooter on the opposite side scrambled to drop into a lower crouch.

"Damn it! Don't tell me he's got a see-through scope too?! Talk about throwing money around!"

"Don't tell me that's the Professor?!"

Cold sweat broke out across the foreheads of Gaia Legion's users as they began to gauge just who exactly they were up against.

A 100% success rate. The Professor's brand was no exaggeration. Whatever job he was on, he was clearly intent on hijacking this train and taking it somewhere.

"Damn bastard! Who the hell hired this expensive prick, anyway?!"

"...The Roaring Dragon Society, maybe? They've got the money for it..."

"No way, they're not the type to use outside contractors!"

The users debated for a moment before gritting their teeth in unison. Whoever it was, their opponent had come thoroughly prepared to hijack this train.

"No choice then...! Everyone, crawl in! Helmets secure, single file, low crawl approach!"

"B-but if we do that, whoever's in front will—!"

Their opponent was firing large-caliber armor-piercing rounds capable of punching straight through the train's walls. Crawling toward that kind of threat, no matter how good their helmets were, was suicide.

"...I'll take point."

"Sq-squad leader?!"

"Quiet! Get ready, quickly!"

Steeling themselves, the Gaia Legion users gritted their teeth and opened the door, dropping into a crawl.

"Full advance! Don't you dare stop! Even if the man ahead of you gets hit and dies, keep moving! Once we clear this car, it's the engine room!"

"Yessir!"

Just as they crawled forward with grim resolve, reaching for the engine car's door—

Another shot rang out, punching a clean hole through the door, and the squad leader — who'd taken point, exactly as he'd said he would — dissolved into particles.

"D-damn it! Squad leader...! Grgh—"

The user behind him, witnessing this, gritted his teeth and pushed forward even faster on his elbows.

"Don't stop—! He's right up ahead!"

"Raaaaargh!"

At last, the engine room door came into view. Sure enough, the window was shattered, a heavy rifle barrel jutting menacingly through the gap.

"Kuh—!"

Just as he pulled out his assault rifle to fire at the broken window, a chilling click sounded in his ear.

"...! Everyone, scatter between the seats!"

The squad leader's deputy, issuing the desperate order as he tried to roll for cover, dissolved into particles right after his commander.

Witnessing this, the remaining users, swallowing their frustration, opened indiscriminate fire on the engine room window with everything they had.

"Die, you bastard—!"

"Aaaaaaargh!"

"Die! Die! Just die already—!"

They kept firing until the smoke from their muzzles obscured the view, and finally, the clicking sound of empty magazines rang out.

However sturdy the engine room door was, the ZK-brand firearms favored by Gaia Legion users fired significantly larger and more powerful rounds than most other manufacturers. A barrage like that should have turned the door, the sniper inside, and the entire engine room into swiss cheese.

But—

"Aaaaaargh—?!"

"Y-you're kidding?!"

"This shouldn't be possible!"

As the smoke cleared, the sniper — very much alive — swiveled his barrel and, as if flaunting his armor-piercing rounds, punched clean through two users at once, dropping them.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"D-don't tell me... he's got a steel plate propped up behind the door?!"

"Who prepares this much for a single job?!"

Even as the horrified users gritted their teeth, scrambling for a new plan, the click of the Professor's sniper rifle sounded again.

"D-damn it! Get out of his line of fire!"

"Aaaaaaargh—?!"

Every time the barrel swung their way, the users flung themselves left and right in a panic.

Watching from the engine room, the Professor gritted his teeth. If they'd just stood still and let themselves be shot in a space this cramped, it would've been so much simpler.

"Persistent bastards..."

—To be continued—