Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 12===

He slid down a few dozen meters.

The fact that the slope was primarily made up of soft black soil, the fact that the slope was not too steep, and the fact that his military uniform was relatively durable all worked in his favor.

Quenser managed to survive.

However, he was not unhurt.

He was collapsed at the base of the mountain. Even with the previously mentioned factors in his favor, pain ran through his entire body. His uniform was designed to have a certain level of durability, but it now had scratches and tears all over it. The mountain slope had not been smooth, so painful scratches from dirt and rocks covered his body.

(Dammit…!!)

He tried to stand up, but pain ran through his leg. This was not the leg he had sprained. Now he could use neither of his legs. He could no longer move from where he was.

(That doesn’t matter. I’m lucky enough to have survived. Even if I could run, it wouldn’t be enough to escape an Object. As long as I can get the location of the Mass Driver conglomerate Object to the princess, it doesn’t matter. I just have to focus on that.)

He tried crawling along with just his arms, but it was no use. Luckily, there was a thicket nearby, and the angle was such that he might be hidden by it.

Had Froleytia made it through the tunnel and to where she could check on the left route?

Where was the princess’s Baby Magnum?

Was Heivia still fighting at the dam?

Many questions floated up in his hazy mind, but then he heard the sound of the Object even louder than before. It was the approaching thunder cloud-like sound of massive amounts of static electricity being produced to make the Object hover.

(It’s coming!!)

It took him a few seconds to realize why the sound was so much clearer than before. The answer was simple. He was hearing the sound directly rather than with a mountain in between, so it sounded much louder and more distinct.

Which meant…

(It’s taking the middle route!! This is the one!!)

As Quenser had that thought, a group of large birds took flight from the nearby mountains. Afterwards, a mountain-like form filled his vision.

It was the Mass Driver conglomerate Object.

From what he could see, there was nothing stealth-like about its design.

The reason the Legitimacy Kingdom’s Second Generation Bright Hopper had not seen it until the Bright Hopper was destroyed was likely due to the mountainous region. The 900 meter mountains had hidden the Object’s giant form and the iron ore in the mountains had lowered the accuracy of the radar. And they had used a meteorological weapon on top of that. It was possible they had produced something like a manmade fog to cover the area between mountain peaks like a lid in order to hide the Object from satellites. The Mass Driver conglomerate was experienced with anything related to space development, so they likely had the knowledge and technology needed to enact numerous countermeasures.

Quenser looked up and gulped as the giant weapon drew near.

The Break Carrier.

Its spherical body was supported by three leg-like parts. The ends of those had ski-shaped planks attached to slide smoothly over the ground.

The most noticeable feature was probably the giant cannon attached to the right side of the Object. Near the end of the 100+ meter main cannon, it was supported by two leg-like parts similar to a sniper rifle’s bipod. It was probably so large that it would bend under its own weight if not supported.

At the back of the main cannon was a rotating part similar to a revolver. However, giant magazines stuck out from five evenly spaced points to the sides of the cylinders.

The shells must have been stored there.

A normal magazine would have been too large, so the design was made more complex in order to split the magazine up.

From the size of the barrel and magazines, it likely held around 25 shots.

Elsewhere, the Object had giant missile launchers attached. Missiles were exceedingly rare as Object armaments, but these were likely for the chaff missiles used to reflect the targeting signal. And their number matched the estimated number of shells.

However, this meant the Object had the ability to assuredly destroy 25 Objects from a distance of over 500 kilometers. If the liquid nitrogen cooling system was used at full ability and the top altitude reached in the parabolic arc was altered, it might even be able to reach 1000-3000 kilometers away. Also, if it had the ability to replenish its supply of shells mid-battle, it could continue fighting even longer. This meant the Mass Driver conglomerate had a legitimate ability to announce their ownership of a certain area.

Quenser audibly gulped once more as he stared up at the giant form.

He then realized the enemy’s threat was not just in the form of long distance bombardments.

(The barrel can extend and retract like a police baton? They can strengthen or weaken the voltage to freely change its power. Is that so if an enemy Object does get near it, the length of the cannon can be reduced to lower the inertial force and allow it to fight at high speed!?)

The Charlemagne had said the Break Carrier’s shells broke apart shortly after being fired in order to focus the kinetic energy on the smaller core and increase its speed.

However, it was possible they could use that in a different way for close- or mid-range battles.

They could keep the shell from breaking apart so the entire mass struck the enemy Object. The outer armor would be crushed and the sharp inner core would shoot out and pierce the target’s armor. Normally when the barrel was shortened there would be less space for the electricity to affect it, but the shells could switch modes as well to maintain the main cannon’s great power.

At long distances the dive bombing shell was used and at closer ranges it was fired directly.

By having multiple ways of firing built into a single cannon, the Object could use its power to its fullest from various ranges.

However, making the system so complex may have caused the malfunctions. A few of the shells fired at Quenser and the others had exploded in midair before reaching their targets.

(Where is the princess…?)

Thinking that, Quenser grabbed his radio. The Mass Driver conglomerate Object was definitely taking the middle route. If he passed that information on, the surprise attack had a much higher chance of succeeding.

But then Quenser frowned.

The radio would not turn on. No matter how many times he pressed the button, it did nothing.

It had broken as he fell down the slope.

“Shit!!”

He had the information, but he had no way to pass it on. Meanwhile, the Object continued on to pass right by Quenser. Their surprise attack would fail at this rate. Baby Magnum and the rest of the unit would all be slaughtered.

(Dammit, isn’t there anything I can do!?)

As he cursed in his heart, Quenser pulled out the PDW he had hidden in his uniform. It was a gun about 20-30 cm long that was a bit like a shortened version of a submachine gun. Its 9mm bullets were plenty to kill a soldier, but were of course not enough to pierce an Object’s armor.

Something fell out of his pocket as he pulled out the gun.

It was a clear plastic bag filled with homemade cookies. He had gotten it from that coffee plantation.

Quenser tossed one into his mouth and removed the PDW’s safety.

(…I know I can’t defeat an Object with this.)

He aimed the gun at the Object’s spherical body.

Still collapsed on the ground, Quenser put his finger on the trigger.

(Please don’t let them figure out what I’m doing. It’s all over if they do.)

There was only one thing he could do: pull the trigger and shoot the Object.

The dry gunshot spread throughout the mountainous region.

The Mass Driver conglomerate Object seemed to notice something had struck its armor. However, it did not seem worried. Of course it did not. A mere 9mm bullet could not destroy the lens of the targeting cameras linked to the Object’s cannons, much less damage the armor.

Even so, the Object stopped moving.

The action felt similar to someone stopping out of annoyance because a small bug was flying around their head.

Quenser pulled the trigger again.

He let loose a small burst of 2 or 3 bullets. Sparks flew from the armor, but no real damage was done.

The Object’s cannon moved.

It had located him from the sound of the gunshots.

Rather than the giant metal bridge-like main cannon, this was one of the smaller ones. Quenser recognized it. It was the same as the spare cannons used for the anti-tank position in Antarctica. This was likely their intended use. Even if it was the smallest cannon on the Object, it was still quite a large railgun. A shot from it could bend an Aegis ship in half, so there was no need to say what it could do to Quenser.

Quenser fired some more, but then suddenly stopped. He wondered what the Object thought about that. Did the pilot Elite think he had run out of ammunition or that he had realized it was doing no good?

Neither was correct.

The Object may have even realized the truth.

The railgun aiming at Quenser did not move any further. It was possible the computer aboard the Object or the Elite’s brain was analyzing the gunfire.

If they were doing that, they might realize that there was regularity to Quenser’s gunfire. If they realized it mapped to a certain information transfer code made up of simple 1s and 0, they would find the following message.

''Object.

''Middle route, point 391.

''Passing by.

''Low-stability plasma cannon.

''Prepare immediately.

The Mass Driver conglomerate Object had over 100 weapons both large and small, and each of those had targeting cameras attached. The sound of the lenses focusing came from all of them at once. The other sensors were likely activating as well.

However…