"We can't leave our rear undefended just in case," Shana cautioned. "It'll be tough on the front line, but we need them to hold. Misaki-san, have the teams peel off some personnel and reinforce the vanguard."
"At once, Shana-sama."
In the city, the atmosphere was electric. Players were glued to the monitors.
"Did you hear? It's a total slugfest right from the start!"
"Hell yeah! This is how a game war should be!"
"Zoom in on Gunner X's skirt!" someone shouted from the back of a crowd.
"What is wrong with you? Also, get a shot of Misaki-san while you're at it!"
"Look at the legs on Sinon! Damn!"
"Ugh, Heike remnants are such degenerates..."
Back at the front, Xeexeeed saw the Genji lines shifting and seized the moment. "They're still disorganized! Charge! Clear the traps and break through!"
The Heike vanguard opened fire. A rain of grenades hammered the first gate. Simultaneously, Genji traps began to detonate along the flanks, sending plumes of fire and pixelated debris into the air.
"Tch! How many traps did these bastards set?!"
"They just keep coming—gaah!"
"Watch the gate! Snipers inside!"
Shana watched the chaos through his binoculars, noticing something peculiar. "Sinon, do you see their flag-bearers anywhere?"
"No," she replied, her eye pressed to the Hecate's scope. "Are they hiding them?"
"Likely. Xeexeeed is playing it smart."
"What's the play?"
"Check the buses. If I were him, that's where I'd stash them."
Sinon adjusted her magnification to the maximum. "Found them. A cluster of flag-bearers behind the rear bus!"
"Smart," Shana mused. "He'd rather lose a few frontline fighters than have his flag-bearers sniped and lose a huge chunk of his total strength at once."
"They're at the absolute limit of sniper range, though."
"He probably calculated the safety zone based on the catalog specs of our rifles. He thinks he's out of reach."
Misaki and the others listened, not quite grasping the significance—until a moment later.
Shana turned to Sinon with a mischievous glint in his eye. "You know, in the old Genpei War legends, Nasu no Yoichi supposedly shot a fan off a moving ship from an impossible distance. I wonder if that was true."
"...And your point is?"
"If we fire at the same time, we can take at least two of them out. What do you say, Nasu Shino-ichi?"
Sinon sighed, though a small smile played on her lips. "Fine, fine. Ikoma-kun did boost our effective range, after all. At this distance... it's a tight squeeze, but we can make it."
Misaki finally realized what they were planning. "You mean... that 'safety zone' isn't safe at all?"
"Exactly," Sinon said, her voice dropping into her professional 'ice' mode. "For us, Misaki-san, there's no such thing as out of range."
"Ready to do this for the first time in a while?" Shana asked.
"Always."
"Aim for the leaders of the big squadrons."
"Copy that."
The two of them shouldered their monsters—the M82 and the Hecate II. The image was broadcast to every screen in the city.
"Wait, are they really going to try that shot?"
"That's way beyond the effective range. Even for them..."
"I'll bet my gear they miss!"
"You're on! These are legends we're talking about!"
Bets were being placed in every alleyway in the city. Shana glanced at Gunner X. "Count us down?"
"You got it. Max, counting down from five."
"Ready," Shana said.
"Five," Gunner X's English pronunciation was flawless, rhythmic. "Four. Three. Two. One. Fire!"
The twin roar of the heavy rifles shook the ground. A split second later, two players standing by the buses miles away dissolved into shards of light. The remaining Heike scrambled, frantically starting the buses to retreat even further.
The city erupted.
"Holy crap! They hit! They actually hit!"
"Gunner X's English was so cool..."
"Pay up! Hand over the credits!"
"They're monsters! Absolute freaks!"
Shana and Sinon stood up calmly, as if they had just finished a routine practice drill.
"The rest ran away," Shana noted.
"Expected."
"But we just forced two whole squadrons to retire. Not bad, Nasu Shino-ichi."
Sinon's face flushed as she turned on him. "Stop calling me that! What if it sticks? You'll have to take responsibility!"
Shana gave her a look of pure exasperation. "Ugh, no way. Whenever you talk about 'responsibility,' it sounds weirdly erotic."
Sinon froze, her face turning a deep crimson. "Wha—wha—what are you talking about?! It's nothing like that! I demand an apology and reparations!"
"Pass. Your 'apology and reparations' are also subtly lewd."
"Stop saying weird things while we're being broadcast!"
The crowd's reaction was a mix of awe and jealousy.
"To make the cool Sinon act like that... Shana really is the GOAT."
"Damn these successful people! Explode already!"
"It's a game, not real life."
"Then let them explode in-game!"
"God, I wish I had a girl to banter with like that..."
"Forget it. Look at the G-Girls. They're all watching him."
"Sinon's sniping posture is kind of hot though..."
"Cameraman! Give us a lower angle on Gunner X!"
"Show more Misaki-san!"
"Shut up, you perverts!"
Ignoring the invisible roar of the fans, Shana peered back through his scope, searching for their primary target. "Alright, Sinon, jokes aside. Help me find Xeexeeed."
"Who was the one joking?! Honestly!" Sinon huffed, but she recalibrated her sights. "Fine. But you're going to pay for this later."
The rest of the unit snapped back to attention, scanning the horizon.
"He's not here! I've lost Xeexeeed!"
"Nothing on this end either. This is bad."
Shana narrowed his eyes. "He played us. He's probably got Yukko and Haruka watching the city monitors for him."
He was right. In the city, the two scouts were feeding Xeexeeed real-time information. Xeexeeed had used the snipers' focus on the flag-bearers as a smokescreen to relocate, intentionally leaving his own subordinates in the dark to make the ruse more convincing.
"How cowardly..." Misaki hissed.
"No," Shana said, a hint of a smile appearing. "It's not cowardly. It's information warfare. I actually have to hand it to him—staying that sharp even in this chaos is impressive."
"Oh, Shana-sama... you're even dreamier when you're being magnanimous," Misaki swooned.
"Uh... thanks?"
The battle was entering its next, most dangerous phase.
-------------------------------
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