Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume1 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 10===

However, Quenser and Heivia were not stupid enough to charge straight at the Object.

The Generation 0.5 had not yet noticed them, so heading out into the open would have been tantamount to suicide.

“(Let’s sneak closer while making sure it doesn’t notice us. If a small explosion occurred in the maintenance building, the area around the plug was likely damaged. If we can find the damaged portion, we might be able to do something.)”

“(I’m fine with taking this slow, but what if the Object charges off at full speed to kill villagers in the name of ‘forest preservation’? I don’t know how fast that Generation 0.5 can go, but I’m sure it’s faster than we can keep up on foot.)”

“(Its reactor has been activated for the first time in 2 years. I’m sure it’ll make sure to carry out some exercises so the Elite can refamiliarize himself with the controls. It won’t be going anywhere right away.)”

Suddenly, the Generation 0.5 Object moved slightly 500 meters away from them. The 70 odd sub weapons, both large and small, moved separately as if in some kind of warm up exercise.

Finally, all of the Object’s guns froze in place and the main body moved to aim the giant main gun. It looked as if all of the pilot Elite’s attention was on those exercises.

And then the main gun fired as if to mow down everything in a vertical line.

The Oceanian Object used a large caliber coilgun.

A giant coil made out of a bundle of conducting wires had steel shells passed through it. The power of magnetism was used to fire the projectiles.

That main gun was firing shell after shell in rapid succession like a pitching machine.

The countless shells moved from right to left like a machinegun, tearing a horizontal line through the thick trees.

Quenser and Heivia hugged the ground.

The line of deadly projectiles passed right over their heads and the dense forest was torn to pieces around them.

“(Shit! Did it notice us!?)”

“(No, its aim is too general for that. This is probably another of its ‘warm up exercises’!! It hasn’t noticed us at all!!)”

At any rate, it was much too dangerous to approach the Object in a straight line. Quenser and Heivia slowly crawled along a large looping route.

“(This undergrowth hides us better than I would have thought.)”

“(It can hide landmines and other traps just as well, so don’t let your guard down.)”

The undergrowth rustled and swayed around them, but with the destruction to the surrounding trees the Generation 0.5 was causing, it didn’t notice such a small change.

“(It really does seem like an older model. It doesn’t have any kind of ingenious mechanisms like the Information Alliance’s Gatling gun-style beam cannon. From the look of it, the coilgun’s barrel will burn away before long if it keeps firing.)”

“(Well, old model or not, it’s still way too much for us to handle.)”

“(How do you think it aims?)”

“(A camera sight would be the standard. My guess would be it has a camera on each weapon so it can be aimed. If it was using ultrasonic waves to search for our pulses, this undergrowth wouldn’t be helping to hide us at all.)”

“(Meaning?)”

“(Standard camouflage will work on it. C’mon, let’s cover our clothes in mud. Even that should help hide us.)”

However, they could not exactly stop and carefully prepare. Coilgun fire was still flying by nearby. The most they could manage was to occasionally roll over onto their backs in some mud as they crawled forward.

Eventually, they managed to get only 300 meters away from the Generation 0.5. They were approaching in a spiral with the Object at the center, so they had crawled much farther total. After getting in a position located behind the Object, they finally managed to escape the threat of the coilgun.

“(Okay, now we can finally find a weakness in peace.)”

“(Hey, we’re about to enter the grounds of the base.)”

Perhaps due to being activated for the first time in 2 years, the Generation 0.5 was completely focused on its system checks. That was clear from its test firing before.

Quenser crawled a bit further and peered at the Object through his binoculars.

If the Object’s reactor had been forcibly brought up with an external power supply, it had to have a plug somewhere. And if that had caused a small scale explosion, it may have a crack running from the reactor to the plug.

(Is that it?)

Quenser looked all over with his binoculars and finally stopped on a single point.

On the back right portion of the spherical main body, he saw something that looked like a broken hatch. A power cable over 50 centimeters thick was hanging down with a torn end.

It had likely connected the electrical booster directly to the reactor. Normally, the line would be cut off with countless thick bulkheads so it could withstand any powerful attack.

(Or is that weakness one of the reasons it’s known as the Generation 0.5 and thought to be destroyable with a nuke?)

Just as he had that thought, Quenser heard a high-pitched electronic noise.

It had not come from the Generation 0.5’s sensors. He had accidentally touched one of the infrared security lasers surrounding the maintenance base zone.

“Oh, shi-…!?”

The Generation 0.5 Object did not take the time to turn its giant form around.

The rear facing ones of the 70 odd smaller weapons attached all over its body made slight adjustments to aim at the two boys.

However, they were lucky.

Just before it fixed its aim, a portion of the Generation 0.5’s wheels struck a small marsh. The 50 meter Object was not about to sink into such a small area of water, but it did change the time Quenser and Heivia had from a few seconds to about 10 seconds.

“Heivia! Hand me that missile!!” shouted Quenser as he ripped the portable anti-tank missile from Heivia’s grasp and rested it on his shoulder.

He was not aiming at the Object.

For one thing, a student like Quenser did not know how to properly use the missile’s sight. He merely pulled the trigger, sending the missile flying out and into the muddy marsh just in front of the Object. The missile stabbed into the center of the marsh and exploded, scattering mud everywhere. With a splattering sound, one side of the Object’s armor was painted the color of mud.

Immediately afterwards, the Generation 0.5 moved its guns despite their cameras being covered in mud.

“Shit!!”

Quenser tossed the empty missile launcher aside.

Instead of getting down for cover, he and Heivia ran off as quickly as they could. As soon as they did, the area they had just been in was blown to a thousand pieces with the tremendous sound of a shell hitting. The two were stuck by the shockwave and blown a few meters through the air. They rolled along the ground, stood back up, and continued to run. They were no longer headed toward the Generation 0.5. They were now running straight toward the cover the maintenance facility would provide with survival the only thing on their minds.

The Generation 0.5 finally started to slowly turn around so it could aim the weapons not covered in mud at them. However, it had lost sight of them by the time it turned around. The camera-equipped weapons aimed all over the place as it searched for them.

With his back pressed up against the maintenance facility wall, Quenser said, “Damn am I glad that thing is so low-tech. A standard Object would have had plenty more sensors to track us with.”

“Surely even that piece of junk has wipers installed, right? I’ve never head of an Elite crying and raising the white flag because of a bit of mud.”

Quenser glanced down at the Hand Axe in his hand.

He poked just his head out from behind the maintenance facility and focused on the thick cable hanging down to the ground from the Object’s armor.

“(That’s definitely a weakness, but do you honestly think I can get close enough to attach this?)”

“(If you’ve been working out enough that your muscles can deflect shells, then you should be fine.)”

“Dammit,” cursed Quenser.

He had a general plan. He knew what its weakness was. He had every tool he would need to use. However, he still could not defeat the Object. That giant machine was not something to be defeated by such small things. Its overwhelming firepower was a thick barrier in the way of the path to victory.

Quenser clenched his radio in his hand.

It was meant to be used to detonate the Hand Axe, but it could be used for other purposes as well.

He could contact his allies.

“(Hey, would it be okay to make a transmission with this thing?)”

“(I’m sure the Generation 0.5 would notice right away, but I doubt it would be able to pinpoint our location. The real question is whether the princess and the Information Alliance Elite will be able to get here anytime soon. The Great Sandy Desert is pretty far away.)”

“(So are we going to be stuck running away until they get here?)”

“(That would make an excellent diet. The only real problem is that you’d die 100 times over before losing a single pound.)”

Despite Heivia’s words, Quenser still hit the switch for the radio.

The Generation 0.5 was not an opponent they could defeat with standard methods.