Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume8 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 5===

'''Mission Report A-03

'''March 17 – 1700 Hours

'''Ocean of the Far West Pacific District – 1500 Meters Deep



While wearing thick diving suits, Quenser and Heivia slowly walked along the fine sand as if walking on the moon.

The submarine volcano did not take the form of a towering mountain. Instead, an orange glow came from deep within the giant cracks on the ocean floor. They did not want to approach those cracks because being boiled to death inside their robot-like suits did not sound like fun.

A mass of metal towered above them.

It was an Object.

[[Image:HO_v08_161.jpg|thumb]]

Specifically, it was the New Model developed in secret by the Island Nation.

“Hey, what do we do? Risking our lives to approach is fine and all, but how do we find a weakness on this monster!?”

“Shouting at it isn’t going to make one pop out at us. We need to stick to the basics. Let’s circle around it to observe the whole thing. We can think after that.”

Quenser saw a few distinguishing features while just looking up at it from the one side.

Just like an Object that fought on the ocean surface, it had a round float on the bottom. But this Object was primarily meant to travel underwater, so its purpose was not entirely clear. It was likely more than just an emergency float.

It had a single main cannon which rose up from the very top. The spherical main body was held between two giant pillars that rose up from the circular float below the Object.

“Is the spherical main body made to rotate up and down? That lets it target enemies directly above and directly in front.”

The two of them began slowly moving clockwise around the Object.

This New Model completely relied on sound. It did not react at all as they shined light directly on it. However, that made them afraid of their own footsteps. They had no idea how accurately it could distinguish sounds, so they felt the same pressure as someone walking blindfolded through a minefield.

“What the hell? It’s got a ton of secondary cannons, but they’re all on the float. It looks like some kind of horrible flower.”

“The spherical body rotates, remember? If it had small cannons all over it like a sea urchin, they’d almost certainly interfere with something.”

It made sense, but it seemed the New Model had been designed with the main cannon being its primary means of attack.

And it was meant to unilaterally attack Objects on the surface rather than something else in the ocean.

“Its direct combat ability might not be all that great. Then again, it might be too much to expect mixed martial artist footwork in the intense resistance of the ocean water.”

“So what? Thanks to the changing layers of heat created by the volcano, our lasers are bent and metal shells can’t reach it. Not even a nuclear torpedo or mine will work. It may just be sitting here, but we have no effective way of attacking it. I’d be proud too.”

“…”

Quenser silently thought as they continued circling the New Model.

Eventually, they arrived directly behind it.

“Is this its propulsion device?”

A giant circular part was pressed against the back of the spherical main body while supported by a few pillars. That circular part had two pairs of wing-like parts extending from it.

Quenser saw countless holes on the wing-like parts. They resembled the heat radiation cover on an autocannon.

“This is a water jet. It takes in a ton of water and ejects it with enough pressure to propel itself forward.”

“What does it matter!? Whether it has that, a propeller, or an electromagnetic method, we still can’t destroy the sturdy parts used!!”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Quenser shined his light around again.

He observed the objects floating in the water.

“Look, Heivia.”

“What? There’s not gonna be a bikini girl this deep in the ocean. Or did you spot a mermaid?”

“It’s a deep sea fish. A real ugly one,” replied Quenser seriously. “There’s an optimal environment for them. They live near the volcano, so they must need warm seawater to live. But doesn’t this one’s movement look weird?”

“What?”

“This one’s left the volcano and started swimming around the Object.”

Quenser pointed it out.

Heivia finally looked up and began observing the deep sea fishes’ movements.

“What’s going on? Is it gathering the heat of the volcano cause it’s made of metal?”

“I have a more interesting theory.” Quenser sounded excited. “The New Model takes in the seawater, but not for its water jet propulsion. It uses water cooling. In other words, it takes in cold water and passes it through metal pipes in order to cool the neighboring reactor and regulate the temperature elsewhere.”

In other words…

“Let’s find where it takes in the water. If we cover it with a plastic sheet or something, we might be able to take out the water jet propulsion and the reactor cooling.”