Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume8 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 7===

The Baby Magnum was released into the ocean near the southern islands after its naval floats were attached.

The old maintenance woman was waiting atop the flight deck of a small aircraft carrier in a large-scale fleet. Her job was to quickly and accurately maintain and repair the Baby Magnum upon its return, but the situation was different this time.

Her name was Ayami Cherryblossom.

As her family name suggested, she was originally from the Capitalist Corporations Island Nation. She had worked as a technician before leaving, so she had been recruited for an investigation of the abilities of the Island Nation’s Objects.

Her B5-sized tablet computer displayed satellite images and video taken by front line observers and she conversed with the Baby Magnums’ princess over her headset.

“There they are. We’ve picked up two Objects near the Ame-no-Darin. One is a first generation named Yuuhi which was officially deployed by the Island Nation to quickly end the civil war. I believe the Legitimacy Kingdom’s codename for it is Be Ablaze. It can literally set the sea on fire.”

“It’s a first generation?”

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“That’s thanks to a sad mentality of the Island Nation. They’re better at creating improved versions of old weapons than they are developing brand new ones. For example, they add cameras to outdated fighters and insist on using them as spy planes. This one may be classified as first generation, but its insides have been completely swapped out so it can keep up with modern models. Underestimate it, and you’ll end up on the ocean floor.”

“But its main weapon is a flamethrower, right? I don’t see how that’s a threat to Objects that can withstand nuclear weapons.”

“It’s a close range defensive weapon known as the Hiding Clothes of Flame. It scatters fuel oil and napalm over the entire area and sets the sea ablaze. This is an effective anti-personnel weapon, but it’s mostly meant to disrupt targeting information with smoke and mirages. You should assume your laser targeting won’t work. You will be separated by several layers of mirages created from temperature change, so the light will bend all over the place.”

However, the ocean around the Island Nation was in state of civil war and the two forces were fighting each other.

The princess was targeting only one side and destroying the Be Ablaze was her top priority, but the situation was too complex for her to focus solely on that. Another giant enemy existed in that ocean.

Namely, the self-defense PMC’s Object that used the Ame-no-Darin as its supply base.

It was a symbol of rebellion.

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“The other one is named Ningyo. The Legitimacy Kingdom’s codename for it is Mad Cooker. It’s a first generation equipped with a salt railgun. Naturally, it’s been independently altered to have the power needed to defeat a second generation.”

“A salt railgun?”

“They were mainstream before low-temperature superconductors were successfully used in weapons. It uses a liquid known as molten salt. When salt is heated to 1200 degrees and liquefied, it has ten times the conductivity of normal saltwater. That molten salt can be used to construct a cheap and primitive railgun.”

An endless supply of the raw material was located in the ocean below it.

With its huge reactor, it could easily heat it.

The reason the Island Nation had continued research into the outdated salt railgun was likely because they wanted to use the ocean surrounding them to increase how long they could fight.

“The current version gives the shells conductivity by creating them from a base of over 90% salt. The core of the shell is a long, narrow spike of tungsten that they call the Ushi-no-Koku. It’s made so the mass of salt shatters when it’s fired. That sends all the kinetic energy into the tungsten so it can pierce the enemy’s onion armor. Continuing to use the same method used by old tank guns is another example of the Island Nation’s sad mentality.”

As long as they had the technology to filter out and condense the iron and rare metals dissolved in the ocean, it was conceivable that the Object could fight indefinitely with no need to resupply. It was almost more dangerous from the experimental side than as an enemy.

“As I’m sure already know, your primary target is the Be Ablaze from the Island Nation’s major corporation. To drag out this civil war and deplete them financially, we need to protect the weaker side, attack the stronger side, and bring both sides as close to equal as we can. But if we go too far, the two Capitalist Corporations Objects might work together to eliminate us. In other words, there is no need to defeat your target at all costs. Just fire at it from the distance and cause as much damage as you can while ensuring all three Objects need to keep an eye on the other two.”

Modern wars were decided by the number of Objects.

With one-against-one, an Object would head in for a direct fight. With one-against-three, an Object would swiftly retreat before fighting.

With that in mind, it would cause incredible pressure to the Island Nation when a third Object of dubious affiliation entered the fray.

Normally, two Capitalist Corporations Objects would work together if the Legitimacy Kingdom attacked.

But they could not trust each other during a civil war.

If they joined together and the other betrayed, a one-against-two battle would be unavoidable.

That fear would bind the battlefield.

“Understood,” said the princess. “I will stick with long-range shots from ten kilometers away.”

“We don’t need to settle this or even see it through to the end. As long as we put an end to the large-scale Ame-no-Darin sabotage plan, we can retreat and watch the mayhem from a safe distance. If the civil war continues, it will do critical damage on an economical front. This has been an internal problem for the Capitalist Corporations from the beginning, so it isn’t worth it for us to risk our lives here.”