20c - War x Hero

One time in history long ago, there was a massive war.

An alien army suddenly invaded with overwhelming military power and strength, and despite the resistance of the Federation Space Force, they suppressed many colonies and stations and massacred a large number of humans.

At that time, the Federation Space Force was still based mostly on large ships.

On the other hand, the enemy has huge mobile fortresses, numerous large ships, and small fighter ships.

It was possible to shoot down an enemy large ship with the main guns of a battleship. If they hit, but:

Even if the main guns were fired, a large number of small fighter ships became a wall, and many ships were helplessly picked apart by the ensuing swarm of them.

There’s a desperate difference in strength.

The twilight of mankind had begun.

Even so, mankind struggled to find a way to resist without giving up.

They don’t mind researching as soon as possible. Funds, technology, and personnel were invested in searching for a blade that would destroy the enemy in every possible way.

A new type of battleship was built.

Bombs were built using materials that were still in the experimental stage.

A gun battery was built by modifying an asteroid.

A missile was built and loaded with an ingredient that corroded the enemy’s armor.

Then the Stella Corpus was created.

Originally, it was a work machine used for space exploration and unexplored planetary surveys, but it was modified for combat as it would be useful for intercepting enemy fighter ships.

The early Stella Corpuses had an underdeveloped combat OS, and instead of the fixed artillery of the large ships, they were able to shoot with hand-held firearms and had more freedom of range than the artillery, and achieved decent results.

The wear and tear on the units were severe, however.

In the midst of this, a case was reported wherein a talented pilot forcibly destroyed fighter ships one after another in maneuver battles.

If the Stella Corpus becomes a more combat-savvy weapon, what of it?

Since then, a lot of trial and error has taken place.

Their aim is a machine that can handle actual battles.

Technology, funds, and human resources are abundantly invested.

Prototypes were built one after another and sent to the battlefield, and while they exploded, valuable operational data was obtained, and the next prototype was built based on that data.

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At the end of a mountain of scrap metal, the military Stella Corpus was finally completed and deployed into actual combat.

However, even so, the difference in military strength is overwhelming, and humanity is slowly being cornered.

A new plan was born.

That is the development of an ultra-high-performance machine, like the legendary Hundred Knight, an army all to themselves.

The ultimate interceptor that uses every possible means to annihilate fighter ships that swarm in numbers like flies, and protect allied ships.

It was done by disclosing information not only to the military but also to private companies, which resulted in leaving many possibilities for future problems, but at the time there was no leeway to worry about it.

And that effort came to fruition one day.

An enemy fleet suddenly appeared in a space that was thought to be safe.

At that time, the army was fighting in another sector, and the exhausted forces did not have enough leeway to send reinforcements to them, so they could only advise them to withdraw.

The enemy army that attacked the colony invaded the interior sectors of the colony and started a massacre.

In an instant, the peaceful cityscape turned into a sea of rubble and fire and transformed into a hell where many remains of humans and their lives were scattered everywhere.

In the midst of this hell, a single Stella Corpus was born with an explosion of flame.

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After instantly annihilating the enemies within the colony, the aircraft assaulted the enemy ship waiting outside the colony and destroyed it.

After that, they flew into outer space with a new high-speed ship that accommodated the survivors of the colony.

They headed for an outer-space zone where the army’s headquarters was located, but along the way, they were persistently pursued by enemies, and while repelling them, they managed to continue flying.

After finally reuniting with the main force of the army, they were relieved for a short while, but the enemy fleet attacked as if they were aiming at that unit specifically, and they were forced to fight.

While repelling it, humanity is busily busy updating military aircraft using valuable battle data and approaching the finishes of new types.

They try to rebuild their strength.

After a short, incredibly short time passed, there was a report that a patrol ship had discovered that a gigantic fortress that was reigned as the enemy’s frontline base was now approaching.

The army will move with all its might to destroy this fortress.

Also, the prototype unit and its pilot, who had produced many military successes, also participated.

At the time, the pilot was still in her mid-teens, and as the commander-in-chief knowingly sent her to her death, he is said to have given the order while holding back tears in front of so many soldiers.

The pilot proudly accepted the order.

In her previous battles, she had become the hope of many other soldiers.

The unit she pilots—codenamed “Diva”—is, as the name suggests, a beautiful machine like a goddess.

It flies across the battlefield, destroys the enemy with its overwhelming combat ability, and creates a runway for its allies.

When the battle was over, she ate well, moved well, and had an innocent sleeping face as a young girl of her age.

Before long, the fortress invaded their outer space and the army concentrated its strength to intercept it.

Diva flies over the battlefield.

Thinking of the girl piloting it, the soldiers rallied and boldly launched an attack.

Many soldiers were blown apart and killed.

Enemies and allies can’t distinguish between wreckage that floats in space.

Still, the beam of light did not stop.

With a strong will, the goddess takes flight to stop their advance until one of them was annihilated.

Already in tatters, it still advances, toward the enemy’s fortress.

Sensing this, the commander-in-chief ordered the entire army to support the goddess.

The light beam cannon fired beyond its limits burns the enemy defenses and would have devoured Diva if she could not get far enough.

As a result, Diva rushes into the enemy fortress. She gouged out the new-type power reactor she was equipped with and let it overload inside the fortress.

Even strong fortresses were vulnerable to attacks from within.

It swelled into a cloud, then exploded, spewing out the internal structural materials into space, repeatedly causing secondary explosions, and eventually turning it into space dust.

The explosion of the fortress was terrifying, swallowing up many enemy ships and fighters waiting to deploy and standing by, causing devastating damage.

Taking this as an opportunity, the Federation Space Force launches an attack, completely destroying the enemy.

Before long, when the enemy’s reaction died down, many soldiers raised a victory chant and were intoxicated with victory.

However, immediately after receiving the commander’s order to search for Diva, those who could move desperately began searching.

But no matter how much they search, they can’t find her.

Just when they were about to give up, there was a machine that was sending out a faint distress signal.

When they rushed to the source, there was the tragic sight of Diva drifting helplessly through space.

When they hurried to the cockpit, there was a girl with tears in her eyes and an innocent look on her face, who had fallen into eternal sleep.

The girl was graciously welcomed to the base, cared for by the surviving soldiers, and mourned with regret.

Aurora Glawis.

The life of the girl who was called the “Queen” who ruled over the battlefield and was the savior of mankind ended like this.

The surviving humans could not continue to immerse themselves in sorrow and began to move again.

They still haven’t grasped the full picture of the enemy, and they’ve lost their trump card.

Another invasion and countering it must also be taken into consideration.

They scrutinize the data left in her aircraft, obtain information on the enemy fortress, verify it, and work out a breakthrough plan.

The precious time that the young maiden risked her life to bring to them must not be wasted.

A new ship was developed based on the ships that had flown with Diva and the research data of other companies.

In addition, the Centuria series was created under the continuous improvement of the Stella Corpus, the development of a matrix unit that enhances the pilot’s survivability, and the design that enhances manufacturing productivity and maintainability on the field.

Various weapons and equipment were developed with the following assumptions, and the doctrine to effectively operate them was also worked out.

What one girl brought became the gospel of mankind, and after that, there were two fortress invasions, but they were also successful in defeating them.

Aurora Glawis’ name has become a legend.

On a side note, she has many anecdotes.

She eats more than others, occasionally mutters words you don’t understand, and when she sees people snuggling up to each other, she takes heavy breaths while drooling and bleeding out her nose.

Some of those quirks became particularly famous and have become traditions for modern pilots.

“Ahh… I look so terrible. If I knew I’d end up like this, I should have put on make-up…”

After the battle, the recovered black box shows that the unit was incapacitated by the damage it received when the fortress exploded and sent it hurtling through space.

They wondered what sort of face was reflected in her pilot helmet’s visor, while she survived only by her pilot suit’s life support and her emergency power source.

As she looked at her crying face, she said those final words.

Then, starting with the pilots, soldiers started applying makeup on themselves before going into battle.

It’s their funeral makeup.

As a woman, they wanted to be beautiful until the end.

Even if they were miserably scattered to pieces on the battlefield.

They would not have even the slightest regrets.