Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume7 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 6===

In the desert night, the temperature was 7.5 degrees Celsius.

There was inferior tungsten in the ground.

The only landmarks were the rusted and broken pipeline cutting across the desert and the abandoned large-scale pump facility that brought agricultural water up from unused water veins and was currently hidden underground.

That facility and the attached structures formed a large manmade space underground.

“Heivia. Heivia!! I know you’re out there. Answer me!!”

“Yeah, I can see you. I’ve got the scope trained on your face. But let’s be serious here. I am ''not'' meeting up with you! Being anywhere near you has never ended well. You can call it cowardly or whatever, but I’m going to hide in the background until the danger has passed. I’m not listening to any complaints!!”

The Legitimacy Kingdom’s first generation Baby Magnum and the Capitalist Corporations’ 1.5 generation Hornet Storm were still battling.

The Hornet Storm used laser beams and had no main cannon, so it used a peacock feather like structure to reflect and concentrate its 100+ secondary cannons in order to pierce Object armor.

The several people manipulating the situation behind the scenes were trying to assuredly and naturally assassinate Second Lieutenant Lisa Deauville, the sole survivor of the Legitimacy Kingdom military’s secret withdrawal unit named the Stalk Killer Unit.

Great damage had been done to the surroundings after laser beam cannons were fired across the desert while disguised as stray shots.

The power of the weapons was frightening and the targeted points on the desert formed a thin film of glass after being instantly melted and re-cooled.

“That’s fine. I’ll destroy the Simple Is Best on my own.”

“I’ve been wondering, is there a screw loose in your head?”

“But first, I want to ask you about the tungsten you mentioned earlier!!”

“Are you planning to gather it to pay off the enemy? Give up now. Didn’t I tell you it isn’t pure enough to be sold?”

The Baby Magnum could handle just the Hornet Storm, but it had almost no chance of winning when the Information Alliance’s second generation Simple Is Best charged in from afar.

Quenser’s top priority target was the Simple Is Best.

That true monster was a 50+ meter mass of metal that weighed over 200 thousand tons, but it used its air cushion engine and several high-output ion thrusters to reach a top speed that exceeded 1200 kph.

It had thick additional armor on the front that resembled a beak. That armor gathered thin metal leaf like a phonebook. When it detected an attack from an Object, it would use explosives to release the surface level of metal leaf before the impact could reach the inside. It was a collection of reactive armor technology. Firing a main cannon on it again and again might eventually break through, but it would reach close range with its ultra-high speed before that happened.

You could see it coming a long way off, but no attack would stop it. This demonic machine was most effective when used against another Object rather than against normal weaponry.

“I have no interest in mining it. I just need to know how deep it is. Is it in a tunnel or is it open-air!?”

“It’s open-air. The vein reaches the surface. You only need to dig in with a bucket or something. But, Quenser, there isn’t enough to use! Look around you. It’s nothing but dry sand. What good is it if there’s a few tiny pieces of tungsten or some wolframite ore mixed in!?”

“That’s fine. That’s just one less thing to worry about.”

“Wait. What are you thinking?”

Its main cannon was a low-stability plasma cannon. By firing it at almost point blank range, it ensured it could pierce the enemy Object’s thick armor. When used in such a violent and reckless way, it was less a projectile and more of a giant pile bunker made of plasma.

Because the Simple Is Best moved at such ridiculous speeds with such a large form, it experienced massive inertial forces. That prevented it from making the minute footwork common to Objects.

If it did not destroy its target on the first pass, it would be forced to expose its defenseless back. It could maintain its supersonic speed, leave the area of danger, and make a second charge after recovering, but it could not avoid damage to its defenseless back if its enemy used a laser beam main cannon.

“That’s the bottleneck for the Simple Is Best.”

“What!?”

“It’s over fifty meters tall and weighs over 200 thousand tons, but it charges in a straight line while breaking the sound barrier. It’s a frightening monster to imagine, but a bit of thought reveals something odd.”

“Wait. Do you mean…?”

“Air resistance. An Object’s main body is spherical. If that giant mass travels at over 1200 kph, it will whip up a massive amount of air. You would expect it to be lifted up into the air. In other words, it has to have something to press itself against the ground as the wind tries to lift it up. If I can destroy that, the giant system known as the Simple Is Best won’t be able to continue.”

“That’s nothing but wishful thinking and wishful thinking is the sign that you’re beginning to lose in a casino. An Object weighs over 200 thousand tons. Its own weight might keep it pinned to the ground.”

“No, it doesn’t. It uses enough ion thrusters to reach supersonic speeds. The larger the body, the more it will disturb the air while moving so fast. It’s overkill. This is like those crazy custom cars that enthusiasts love. They’re taking something that would normally fly into the air and they’re forcibly pinning it to the ground.”

“Then where is this supposed weak point?”

“This is the cornerstone of the machine. They would use the strongest and least likely to break part.”

“You mean…”

“It has to be the additional armor on the front. That beak-like thing is being used to control the flow of air and have it pass over the Object. That air presses it down and prevents the Object from floating up.”

“So if you destroy that solid beak, the Simple Is Best will lose its balance and collapse?”

This battle was in retaliation for Quenser and Heivia crushing the Information Alliance’s intelligence plan to expand their influence by secretly working with an Oceanian human trafficking organization.

The Information Alliance’s Simple Is Best was one thing, but the Capitalist Corporations’ Hornet Storm had no active reason to fight. It simply wanted to destroy the strategically dangerous Baby Magnum while it had the chance.

If the Simple Is Best, which was crucial to the strategy, was destroyed, that advantage would vanish.

If the Hornet Storm did not want to risk its life on the battle and it retreated, that was fine. And even if it continued fighting, the Baby Magnum was not in too much danger against it alone.

The secret objective of the battle was to naturally assassinate Lisa, but it would no longer be “natural” if the given official reason for the battle was lost. Some unseen person would gnash their teeth and be forced to withdraw.

“But how are you going to destroy its front armor!? That thing’s a crystallization of reactive armor tech that will instantly detonate and purge the surface layer of metal leaf before any damage is transmitted through. Even after ten or twenty direct hits from an Object’s main cannon, the beak silhouette isn’t gonna change. How is a normal person supposed to stand up to that!?”

“…”

“Not to mention that it’s charging in faster that the speed of sound right now. You don’t have time to set your bombs on it. Not even a ninja from a certain island nation could cling to that thing! You’ll just be flattened like you were hit by a fly swatter!!”

Even if a battlefield student armed with bombs stood up to it, the Object would not even glance in his direction. And despite not focusing on him, he would still be turned to mincemeat the instant it hit him.

With its size, it could literally flatten your average building or vehicle.

“The wind is nice tonight. Luck is on my side.”

“Have you gotten lost in a fantasy world now?”

“Do you know about the machine tool known as a water jet? It fires ultra-high pressure water like a laser to cut apart sheets of metal. Now, do you know what modification they make to the water jet in order to let it cut through thick materials it would otherwise fail to cut?”

“What are you talking about!? Have you gone crazy from fear!?”

“I’m saying the conditions are just right.”

Quenser pulled out a clay-like Hand Axe plastic explosive and stabbed a pen-like electric fuse into the center.

“Here, piggy piggy. It’s time for your fat body to fill my stomach.”