Kanchigai Tensai CH75 – Brief Chat
────Miki’s Perspective────
“I never expected they’re going to use the Peace Maker”.
The U.S. Defense Strategy Satellite, Peace Maker functions as a fully fledged attack satellite. I guess they’ve taken control by hacking from outside, but since they’re shooting twice in a row, it seem there is an insider in United States who has the authority to launch fire. Must have been the Lieutenant General of the Army, who had been at his best before. Shall I drop a visit to the U.S. government later.
And yet the defense system of the Ursian Empire was unheard of. It was unthinkable that the ship would be protected unharmed from the direct attack of the Peace Maker, if we went to full war with the Ursna Empire previously. Ellis, whose face turned blue as she trembled, opened her mouth while checking the terminal.
“I am contacted by the Ursna magician. They have begun rebuilding the 『Lily Shield』 (Yuri No Shield), and it will take about 30 minutes to refill the magical energy. It was fortunate that the two attacks from the Peace Maker were over.”
“The control of the Peacemaker seems to have been restored, so it’s fine if the defense system can only be used again after 30 minutes. However, I thought that it would be impossible to destroy the shield with any weapon on earth based on my program calculation. I didn’t think it was possible before.”
*”I agree. It is also reasonable to say that the medium used to develop new technologies is a national treasure. Even though the situation in G-88 world is stable, I can’t stand up to Her Majesty Victoria, whom we lent a warship to carry the shield, which is key element of defense.” (tn: cannot make any sense of the sentence)
On the screen in front of me was the fleet of Noah, who had recovered from the jamming attack. It appears that there were no remarkable damage, and the ship was still cruising as usual in a circular formation around the flagship Mermaid. While looking at the situation, I received a communication from Shuichi, who seemed to be unusually impatient.
“Do you hear me? The communication was temporarily obstructed by the jamming attack. I heard a terrible noise during the restoration, but what happened? Have you seen the situation over there?”
“Of course. As soon as the jamming bullet landed, the U.S. Peace Maker was hacked and taken over. A uranium spear was shot from the Peace Maker to penetrate the Mermaid at an estimated speed of 12,000kmph. But it seems that the Ursian Empire’s territorial defense magic, 『Lily Shield』 has been launched and still intact. I’ll send this information over to the main terminal.”
I can’t help laughing while answering Shuichi’s question. “Peace Maker,” which the United States announced to the world as part of its national defense strategy a few years ago, and the Ursna Empire’s territorial defense magic 『Lily Shield』 — which is the real “defense”?
“Roger, I’m receiving it now. By the way, what are you going to do? I think that it is a trap for the submarine forces to withdraw, but I think it is also an opportunity at the same time. I would like to enter the ice shelf connected to Antarctic Base to and secure the bridgeway. They won’t be able to use that attack satellite near their base, either.”
“I will leave the operation to you. This time we’re using the transfer gate, so it’s different from a normal military operation. The main unit can be preserved without injury, no matter what happen until the gate is opened. If the strategy changes, we can deal with it here so the military department can just do what you think is the best action.”
“Then, we’re going to go into the ice shelf as planned. However, there is a strange movement around the enemy’s Antarctic base. In the unlikely event that we fails to secure the bridgeway, suspend the operation and the withdraw to the entry point.”
When Shuichi-san, who was saluting them, disappeared from the screen, Noah’s fleet was projected again. After I put the cold, fragrant tea in my mouth, I ask Ellis.
“Is the main unit ready?”
“The 1st landing unit is already waiting before the gate. After the 1st troop secure the bridgehead, both the Merkava and Ursna troops, which were guarded by the TMN direct unit and the Russian national forces, will begin landing as the main force. This unit includes Kouki-kun and Chern.o.bog. In addition, a reserved 2nd force has been arranged and ready to deploy at any time.”
“How is Alice-chan and Kon-chan?”
“…………Currently waiting inside the Type-0 suit. She seems to be asleep as far as the vital figures are seen.”
It’s no wonder. It is better to let the two sleep till the last minute, since they are tired from the final adjustment and the subsequent inspection. I don’t really want to, but … for some reason, 3 people, including Kouki, insisted that we had to go to Antarctica and ask Dr. Sandra about it. He said he’d tell me the reason when we get home, but could he tell me the secret that child is hiding? Well, I should’t expect much of it.
“Just let Alice-chan sleep. The problem is───”
“How are you doing regarding Chern.o.bog?”
“Well, did you get anything?”
“Nothing is clear. Chern.o.bog’s quarters are equipped with unique security system. Also, since all information terminals are physically cut off from the outside, it is impossible to penetrate from the outside. In addition to this, all intrusions inside the dormitory have been detected by the Chern.o.bog side, and have never been successful. They are totally on guard against any intrusion from the outside under the shift system.”
I can’t wait to see what Ellis has to say. She’s doing her best. Shuichi-san has also been a.s.sisting with personnel who have experience in special operations in the United Nations forces, but has yet to break through the security of Chern.o.bog.
Of course, there’s the possibility of enmity. However, captain Yulia offered herself as speciment for a very dangerous experiment called “Whole Brain Transplant” with success rate of 0.006% for the purpose of collecting medical data for Alice who is burdened with her brain. In addition, the G-88 world has taken the lead in exploring dangerous areas and emergency dispatch in case of emergency. I mean, what are they doing with Kouki-kun inside the dormitory? Apart from that, they are a very friendly and reliable forces.
“It can’t be helped… But what are they going to do with the prototype that they took?”
“Excuse me, but what is the trial model that was requisitioned?”
“I should have sent information to the military, didn’t I? This is a test machine X-55 developed by the Engineering Department.”
Ellis threw a strange face at my words. She was seconded (temporarily a.s.signed) to my department, and her original affiliation belongs to the Military Department. So when I sent information to the military department, I thought she would automatically receive the information, but is it different?
“I am sorry, I think the captain has explained to you the wartime provisions of the Military Department.”
From Shuichi-san? I wonder when was the last time I had a conversation with him other than the previous communication? I was sure it’s about a week ago, when I had dinner with members including Kouki and Alice-chan……..No, I didn’t …
“The Military Service provisions will not report Cla.s.s 2 or above information to personnel dispatched to other department to prevent confidential leaks. Probably the prototype is cla.s.s 2 or higher. Isn’t it specified?”
Ellis who read my troubled expression casually tells me the provisions of wartime. Speaking of which, I feel like I was told that, but I was surprised that it also applied to Ellis who was seconded to the Executive Department. This is my lack of confirmation (means she didn’t validate it(the rules), or made the effort to). I’m glad I noticed it before it become irreversible.
“I think the X-55 was given a Cla.s.s 2 or higher security designation. It was my lack of confirmation. So do you know about the X-55?”
“No, I don’t. It looks like a new type of machine developed by the Engineering Department.”
“It is a stealth test machine that flies high alt.i.tudes. You can fly further up the Kármán Line (100km above sea level, boundary of athmosphere and s.p.a.ce).”
By the way, isn’t Ellis-san whose last name is Dauntless, originally from the Air Force? Members of TMN’s direct units, including her, cannot be a.s.sessed by me because their records before joining the UN Army were deleted.
“I am sorry. I’m from the Army Intelligence Unit, and I don’t know much about the sky.”
“No problem. To explain this, normal airplane flies in what’s called the troposphere, from 15,000 to 20,000 meters. I think that the upper limit of a high alt.i.tude reconnaissance plane that Ellis-san has been on is at most 25,000. And, above that, the 50,000-meter zone is the place called the stratosphere. Have you ever heard of the stratosphere?”
“Yes.”
“On top of that, the high area of 85 thousand meters is a place called the mesosphere. The Kármán Line is the 100,000-meter-high line up there, that’s 100 kilometers from the ground.”
“……. That, is that the outer s.p.a.ce?”
“Well, depending on how you define it, there’s no doubt that the s.p.a.ce above the Kármán Line is s.p.a.ce. And the X-55 is a stealth airplane that flies at 10,000 kilometers per hour or more at Mach 8 by using a rocket engine at an alt.i.tude of 130,000 meters.”
“Is it not detected by reconnaissance satellites or s.p.a.ce debris radar?”
“Because it is a stealth aircraft, it is not detected by debris radar. It is almost impossible to find because it also deploys optical camouflage from satellites, but it has a serious drawback.”
I remember the fact that there was an explanation of the work that I normally enjoyed, and I stopped at my bottom. Yes, it has an enormous defect… Ellis looked at my face, as it show disdainful grimace, and for some reason turned pale and asked:
“Could there be irreparable catastrophic fatal damage to the crew?”
“What? No, no! I don’t make such a defective product. The problem is that the fuselage is too special to be able to attach a landing gear, which means, after take off, you have to eject the crew halfway and let if crash due to running out of fuel. And the X-55 is very, very expensive! Simply put, the 8th generation power suit that Kouki used is worth a dozen full-featured suits. Well, if we ma.s.s-produced them, they would cost less, but only one machine was made because there was no use other than taking experimental data.”
That’s right… As a result of the single-mindedly enhancing the performance, the X-55 became a more expensive, disposable stealth aircraft, worth 12 times as much as Satanachia, which was a specialized machine for Kouki that accounts for about 3% of Noah’s annual budget. It hurts my stomach to use that suit for something… Though I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to do it even though I made it to be used.
“Dozen? Dozen? You’ve been given a lot of permission from the Finance Department.”
“I am basically researchers, not military personnel, so I don’t mind spending my money on new things… However, the budget of the Engineering Department is cut off until next year because of the hurry to complete the renovation of Alice-type amphibious battleship, which was remade from Alice-type land battleship. Then, Kouki handed Noah’s satellite broadcasting right to the Russian side for free, and refused the diamond mining right presented from the Russian side. To be honest, it would have been difficult if the New Metal Development Department had not transferred from the Next Generation Research Laboratory. Apart from the G-88 world, Noah on the Earth side is now living by the sales of the New Metal Development Department.”
And what worries me further is that the New Metal Development Department apparently has considerable cooperation with Kouki and Chern.o.bog. Some of Chern.o.bog’s members have already used a new type of high hardness metal. Actually, every department is desperate to share surplus goods to exchange money, but in Kouki’s case, surplus goods are preferentially allocated on a priority bases.
Rather, isn’t it a regular product in the name of surplus goods? However, the products for sale seems to be in time for delivery, there is no deterioration in quality, and there is no dressing of purchased materials. I don’t know where he got the surplus and materials from… Ellis opened his mouth while holding out a new cup of tea, probably thinking about such a mysterious alchemy method that Kouki was doing.
“This is a rumor, but I heard that the Dragon tribe in G-88 world is behaving strangely.”
“Strange behavior?”
“It is said that a simple anti-aircraft radar in Merkava detected a large flying object. There were no scheduled aircraft and dragons in the vicinity, so a monster alarm was issued and a scrambled aircraft (military aviation: scrambling is the act of quickly mobilising military aircraft) set off from a nearby airbase to intercept the aircraft. However, when they looked into the airs.p.a.ce, a group of dragon were transporting containers with Noah’s marks and code on them. I heard that the pilot in the interceptor had visually confirmed the code and then returned.”
“Unschedule action… It may depend on the weather, but anyway, which department is using the code? It can’t be the New Metal Development Department, right?”
“It seems that it is a container from the Medical Department where transportation was delayed due to bad weather. And one more thing, I confirmed this, but do you remember the Linkdouble Empire (in raw : Rinkudoburu Teikoku)?”
“Yeah, some idiot was taking over that country.”
“Yes. Noah’s C-type transport ship was loaded with large containers and anch.o.r.ed for about two days in the port of the Linkdouble Empire. It is different from the usual transportion route, so I looked it up, but found out that there was a monster alarm and they were evacuated. By the way, it was false alarm.”
“What’s the code for the container?”
“The G-88 World Political Department requested the a.s.sistance for the poor, which included food and medicine, and the contents had no problems. The number of containers transported is 32, and the requested quant.i.ty has been delivered on time. But the C-type ship is supposed to have 35 containers if it’s fully loaded.”
“In other words, while you were there at the port of Linkdouble you loaded three additional containers and when you arrived, the containers disappeared somewhere?”
“That would be the case. But the captain said that when we loaded the ship, the 32 containers seemed to be arranged in a different way because of bad balance.”
Unplanned container from Medical Department… Missing container of the Political Department… One thing is certain: there is nothing wrong with the G-88, either because of delays in transportation or evacuation due to misinformation. Besides, the G-88 has its headquarters in both the medical and political departments, and it is meaningless to cooperate with the New Metal Development Department because their budget is completely separate.
But I wonder what is this feeling of incongruity───. It kept getting to me until Ellis-san informed of the fleet’s arrival on the ice shelf.