【第4章　メガライダー最終試験②】
CHAPTER.04 THE MEGA RIDER’S FINAL TESTING ②

The mock projectiles were supposed to be destroyed without exploding upon contact with the anti-air guns. However, an unexpected explosion occurred the moment the anti-air gun hit the fourth mock projectile. Several of these projectiles turned out to be live rounds. Deviating from the Proto-Mega Rider’s simulated program, they fired haphazardly within the colony, unleashing destruction as though intent on obliterating its interior.

The presence of live ammunition clearly indicated that this was a deliberate act, and before anyone could react, the live rounds caused widespread destruction within the colony. Unfortunately, one of the rounds struck a critical structural component, causing the colony’s integrity to start breaking down. The colony, a man-made marvel of earth and sky, began to crumble as if caught in a natural disaster.

Drawing on their experience from the One Year War, the pilots of the two GM Type C units sprang into action, swiftly maneuvering to safeguard the launches. The remaining GM Type C attached itself to the Proto-Mega Rider.

The GM Type C, carrying the launches, maneuvered through the storm, smashing through debris towards the spaceport where their transport ship awaited. However, the colony’s collapse was much faster than anticipated, hindering their exit.

While the GM Type C struggled to advance through the storm, explosions from ignited Helium-3 gas echoed in the distance.

In a moment that seemed to teeter on the brink of disaster, Lieutenant JG Kelly East, the test pilot aboard the Mega Rider, proposed a daring maneuver. “Let’s conduct the final test by firing the Mega Launcher. I want the ship waiting for us to depart immediately.” The plan was to fire the Mega Launcher mounted on the Mega Rider, creating a shortcut by blasting a hole through the colony’s shell for their escape. This plan was risky, but it eliminated the danger of the transport ship waiting for them being caught up in the colony’s destruction.

Based on data from the observation team, the Mega Rider began the process of removing the limiter while borrowing energy from the GM Type C. This would enable the Mega Launcher to be fired. It was a gamble – whether they could fire and escape before the colony’s complete disintegration. The ground rumbled, and the storm continued as the researchers removed the limiter.

Meanwhile, the two GM Type Cs, each holding a launch, struggled against the violent winds that tried to suck them into a hellish abyss further away, the Mega Rider applying weight to prevent them from being swept away.

The colony, formerly stable due to 1G centrifugal force, now disintegrated like peeling the thin skin of an apple, casting mirrors and structural materials into the void, the epicenter’s gaping hole expelling air and debris into space. As the colony started to shudder ominously, signaling imminent total collapse, the Mega Launcher was finally ready.

Based on the expected firepower of the Mega Launcher, they identified a point to penetrate the colony’s outer wall in one shot. A target was chosen close to the mountain-side entrance leading to the spaceport, and preparations ensued rapidly.

Immediately after the Mega Launcher was fired, the GM Type Cs disarmed and made themselves lighter, repositioning the launches in a safe position away from the blast’s impact.

However, the problem lay with the Mega Rider. Since it couldn’t move at high speed immediately after it was fired, it had to ride the storm of air release that had been tormenting them all along to escape into space. Even if it successfully blasted a hole, it might not be large enough for escape. If the blast didn’t widen the hole sufficiently, they risked being sucked out into space by the escaping air and sealing their only exit, potentially leading to a catastrophic explosion of the colony and their deaths. Knowing the risks, this was the only option to save as many as possible. Then, the Mega Launcher was fired.

With formidable force, the Mega Rider’s high-powered mega particle cannon melted through barrier after barrier, carving out a massive escape route in the colony’s shell. However, one of the GM Type C pilots realized the hole wasn’t large enough. They hurriedly passed their launch to the other GM Type C.

Carefully avoiding the hole’s edges, the GM Type C carrying both launches escaped out of the colony. Outside, they awaited the emergence of the Mega Rider and the other GM Type C. But the Mega Rider was nowhere to be seen. As the GM Type C pilot and staff aboard the launch anxiously watched, the colony began to disintegrate on a large scale. The outer walls caved in significantly, and the structure deteriorated rapidly. The hole created by the Mega Rider’s earlier firing, leading to the spaceport, was now buried under collapsed structures, making escape seem impossible for the Mega Rider and the remaining GM Type C.

Then, another intense flash of light erupted from within the colony, directed outwards. This attack caused the colony to split open widely, and through the gap, a moving object was sighted.

Atop the Mega Rider sat a severely damaged GM Type C, barely recognizable amid the debris. Despite its external equipment mostly being destroyed, the Mega Rider managed to maintain its form and appear before its comrades.

The two GM Type Cs that had already escaped rushed to the rescue, as did the Biscay-class transport ship, approaching to recover the battered Mega Rider. Thus, the test of the Proto-Mega Rider ended, having resulted in the complete destruction of a colony. Later investigations revealed that the live rounds mixed with the mock projectiles were not an accident but an act perpetrated by Zeon sympathizers within AE. In the wake of this incident, the Proto-Mega Rider was not only refined and made more compact but also imbued with hard-earned lessons from the ordeal. Emerging wiser from this harrowing ordeal, the Proto-Mega Rider underwent significant refinements, emerging more compact and formidable. It was then entrusted to the Argama, the AEUG’s vanguard, poised for deployment in the heart of battle.