Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume4 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 5===

After the naval battle floats were installed, the Baby Magnum travelled north from Oceania and through the Coral Sea.

The Capitalist Corporations’ Deep Optical was waiting at a point that cut off its path to the Solomon district where Oldnick had fled.

This was a true battle. It was a fight to the death. And like the battles in the many wars of the past, the girl piloting the Object exchanged no words with her opponent. She did not even know if the pilot of the enemy craft was male or female.

In a way, it was a clean battle. In a way, it was an empty battle.

The two faced off at a distance of about 10 kilometers.

“The intelligence group has carried out unofficial reconnaissance operations concerning the Deep Optical, but we still do not have any complete information. Do not get carried away in attack. Keep evasion a priority at all times.”

“Understood,” replied the princess.

In the next moment, the Deep Optical began to move.

They were 10 kilometers apart.

The Object fired a brilliant white laser beam at that range.

“…!?”

The princess just barely managed to evade by predicting the action from the subtle movements of the targeting lenses and other equipment.

An explosive noise followed the beam of light.

The laser beam roasted the dust and moisture in the air which produced a massive amount of heat, causing the air to expand explosively.

The Deep Optical had a very unique shape. Eight legs spread out directly below its spherical main body. All eight of those legs functioned as air cushion engines so it could remain accurately level even amidst waves.

[[Image:HO_v04_12.jpg|thumb]]

For a main cannon, the Deep Optical had a giant laser beam cannon on its upper right side. Also, eight thick cylinders were attached to the spherical main body with the base of the main cannon at the center as if they were the face of a clock. The energy produced by those eight cylinders was likely collected for the main cannon.

According to some footage the princess had seen during the pre-mission briefing, it had two giant parts attached to the back. They were thought to be cooling devices.

It also had countless lenses unnaturally positioned on the front of the spherical main body like some kind of crop circle. The Object gave an overall ominous impression.

“Do not falter. The enemy’s main cannon is a laser beam! Its strength is attenuated with distance, but its speed remains the same. Approaching will only put you at a disadvantage!!”

“I know that!!”

After somehow managing to avoid the first shot, the princess forced the Baby Magnum on forward.

At the same time, she moved the main cannon arms.

The Baby Magnum could change what type of main cannon it used to match the situation. The backs of the barrels rotated like revolvers to choose laser beams just like the Deep Optical used.

The princess fired without hesitation.

The Deep Optical reacted immediately.

But its evasion speed was slow. It moved at only half the speed the Baby Magnum had. The princess saw no way it could avoid the laser beam like that. However…

“What…!?”

“…”

As everyone watched on, the laser beam the princess had fired suddenly changed trajectory. It headed off into the empty sky rather than to the Deep Optical.

“The heat produced by the laser altered the refractive index of the air!!” concluded the princess.

“Not good. Are they calculating it out using a super computer?”

The back of the seven barrels rotated once more as she chose the coilgun.

As she was directly firing a metal shell, the heat of the air would have minimal effects.

All seven main cannons fired in unison.

As before, the Deep Optical’s evasion speed was low. It only moved far enough out of the way to protect half of its body.

However…

Bright white beams of light burst out.

“Again!? The Deep Optical altered the course of the shells just before they hit!”

“It must have focused its smaller laser beam cannons on them. By gouging holes in the side of the shells, air resistance would cause them to fly off course!!”

Simply put, it was a type of laser parry.

It was a stunt only possible with dozens of weapons that travelled at the speed of light.

The princess fired the coilguns several more times, but the laser parry was very accurate. Even at the close range of 1 or 2 kilometers, it proved difficult to do any damage with metal shells.

All the while, the enemy’s tremendous laser beam cannons fired back at the princess.

As this intense battle progressed, the princess calmly continued to analyze the situation.

Suddenly, one of the giant coilgun shells deflected by the laser parry landed in the ocean right next to the Deep Optical.

(Does it not have accurate control over what direction they are deflected in?)

Just as an explosive splash of water threatened to flip the Deep Optical over, something strange happened.

The Object regained its balance with an unnatural movement. It was as if its center of gravity was located in the wrong place like with a self-righting doll.

“We detected high power lasers coming from the side of the spherical main body when it recovered its balance. It must have a system to explosively expand the air and use the momentum to forcefully right itself. It can likely right itself even when tipped as far as 70-80 degrees to the side.”

With that in mind, the Deep Optical seemed to be a craft that was designed with a focus on stability.

It would stay in one place and fire its accurate and powerful laser beam cannons. Speed was sacrificed to ensure its main cannon would not malfunction. It seemed to be designed to have the upper hand when it came to the speed of its weapons rather than the speed of the entire Object’s movements.

(If Quenser saw this, he would probably get excited.)

“That must mean the Deep Optical does not have much in the way of quick bursts of speed.”

“Its top speed probably is not too bad, but it may only be able to reach those speeds via smooth acceleration. Laser technology can be delicate. It may have to be careful in order to ensure that it does not destroy itself with the G forces created by its own movements.”

That meant…

“I can defeat it by drawing in close and firing relentlessly!!” shouted the princess as she accelerated the Baby Magnum forward.

She knew the enemy could interfere with the laser beam and coilgun options for her main cannon, but the Baby Magnum still had one trump card left.

The low-stability plasma cannons.

She could avoid the Deep Optical’s main cannon by monitoring the subtle actions made before firing. If she could fire her seven main cannons again and again while not getting hit herself, she could sink the Deep Optical.

Or so she thought.

(Huh?)

Doubt came to her mind.

The princess was taking evasive actions based on the subtle movements of the enemy’s sensors, lenses, and cannons. With an enemy like the Deep Optical that used laser beam cannons, it was impossible to evade if the princess only detected it once the cannon had fired. To do that, she would have to overturn the theory of relativity.

But that was exactly why the princess found something odd.

She was evading the main cannon and the other laser beam cannons perfectly well. She was reading the subtle movements of the lenses and sensors just fine.

And yet…

The crop circle-like group of lenses on the front of the Deep Optical was not moving at all.

Unless they were simply malfunctioning or they were just a bluff, the enemy still had some kind of trump card remaining.

It was at that time that all of the lenses on the front of the Deep Optical moved at once.

(Here it comes!!)

The princess focused every nerve ending in her body.

By her estimation, it was likely a system to drastically raise the enemy’s accuracy. For that reason, she concentrated more on taking evasive actions than on attack.

However, her estimation was incorrect.

[[Image:HO_v04_13.jpg|thumb]]

No sound was made.

And yet the Deep Optical multiplied.

(What…?)

There were exactly ten of them.

When the princess saw the many Deep Opticals that suddenly appeared in a line, the princess’s thoughts stopped for a moment.

(No, the Deep Optical has not multiplied.)

“Is it using 3D images!?”

A simple fake image would be meaningless. The Baby Magnum could use several methods to perform a lock, so she merely had to use her infrared sensors or her ultraviolet sensors to see which one was real.

However…

(The lock cursor is reacting to all 10 of them? I see. It is also manipulating infrared rays and ultraviolet rays to fool my computer!!)

In the next instant, the image blurred greatly.

Only one of the Deep Opticals was real.

The trick was especially insidious because they moved like the real one would and a virtual image was created to cover the location of the real Deep Optical as well.

The trick used high level 3D images and optical interference to confuse the other sensors as well. The princess determined the situation outside via her monitor, so this trick had the same effect on her as some mysterious ninja technique.

And…

(Oh, no. I can’t just sit here!)

Even if she should have taken action sooner, the loss of data to base her decisions on put her at a serious disadvantage regardless.

The princess frantically moved straight to the side while ignoring the intense Gs this put on her body, but the Deep Optical’s main cannon blast still struck one of the Baby Magnum’s main cannon arms. The laser beam created from combining 8 main cannon-class laser beams blew away the Baby Magnum’s main cannon arm like it was a sugar sculpture.