86 - Volume 2.1 afterword

A pilot suit is just a decoration! Hello everyone, this is Asato Asato.

I’ve always wondered, “Why do all ‘pilot suits’ have to be so ‘tightfitting and snug’?”, and never got to understand the reason why.

Of course, such combat uniforms have various functions and design, but does a pilot suit have to be like that? That goes especially for a robot specializing in land combat; why can’t they use the tanker jacket like actual tank soldiers?

No, actually, we all understand. It’s because girls wearing pilot suits are cute. Cute is justice. But the protagonist of this work, Shinn is a boy…!

Thus, in this work ’86-eightysix’, all pilots wore camouflage when piloting, and not pilot suits. This volume however, it’s changed to something similar to the Panzer Jacke.

Luckily, when editing the manuscript for the first volume, I wrote things like, “If possible, I hope not to use any pilot suits…”, and when drafting the plot of the second volume, I wrote “I hate pilot suits!!!” on half of an A4 sized paper. The kind editors-in-charge kindly listened to the various weird requests I had, and accepted them all. Yay!

And so, we came to a consensus, “But we want to see Lena in a pilot suit!”. To those of the girls in pilot suits faction, please look forward to it.

No, this isn’t ironic. Cute is justice. Girls in pilot suits are justice.

Now then.

Back on point. It’s the second volume!

It continues! It continues! It’s all thanks to the passionate support of you readers! Thank you very much!!

And so, sorry that it ended up as a two parter.

I had initially planned to write a book, but after cramming what I had to write, and what I wanted to write, it far exceeded what I had initially planned…

The content was basically the epilogue written in different perspectives, one from the perspective of one, and the other in the perspective of the many. The first volume was written in Lena’s perspective, while the second and third volumes focused on Shinn.

The title of this work is ’86-EightySix-‘.

Why did they continue to use this derogatory term imposed upon them by the Republic after leaving that battlefield? Basically, what are the Eighty Sixers? I plan to use the second volume to write what is a prologue to a story of him and her.

And this time, a few other explanations.

-The main cannon of the Juggernaut.

The main cannon of the Juggernaut was the 88mm, called the ‘Ratsch Bumm’, but in reality, the ‘Ratsch Bumm’ is actually the 76mm anti-tank cannon of the Soviets.

So why did I not use the actual term 88mm? Please refer to the German 8.8cm cannon during the Second World War, or the common nickname of the Flak 36, and then refer to the book cover or the fold behind the book.

…Understand now? It’s a typical example of picking a pen name without thinking too deeply, and getting into trouble later on. (TN: The Germans call the 8.8cm the Acht-Acht. 8-8)

-Title.

Like the pen name, I was often asked how the ’86’ came from.

In English slang, it means ‘rejecting entry into a shop’, or ‘refusing a customer’. Also, it can mean various things like ‘eliminate’, ‘punish’, ‘murder’.

And finally, the thanksgiving.

First, to the editors, Kiyose-sama and Tsuchiya-sama, who gave me much patience and feedback when I kept changing the plot and manuscript since the beginning like a headless chicken, precisely pointing out the flaws in the story.

Next, to Shirabi-sama, who added much needed killing intent in the pretty illustrations. There has been a huge variety of new female characters!

And to I-IV-sama, who used the mysterious, random setting I came up with, and created a new, powerful “Juggernaut”. I am looking forward to seeing how that guy looks in the third volume.

And to all you readers who supported this work. The writing for the next part is right under way, and I hope to meet you in the third volume ‘Run to the battlefront (Second Half)’!

And I hope this work can temporarily lead you on a journey to the sun being born, to the battlefield of the Northern military countries in the summer, and to them who are again involved in the battlefield of howling iron and battle.

When writing this afterword, BGM: Run Through the Jungle (Creedence Clearwater Revival).