Dinosaur Extinction Simulation [Crustal Tsunami] part 3
The enemy fleet continued to disappear into the ocean. Those overturned by the blast wave were soon engulfed by towering tsunamis exceeding 100 meters in height. Their quantum levitation systems—designed to keep the ships floating in place—offered no defense. Movement, whether upward or forward, required thrust, and when subjected to strong impacts, the ships were prone to capsizing.
The raging seas showed no sign of calming.
In the meantime, artillery support began targeting the remaining rear fleet, fired by city AIs who had decided to stand with Kou. Massive ballistic missiles, launched from various facilities across the Scheelite continent, began to strike their targets. The enemy was subjected to relentless concentrated fire.
Additional waves of attacks followed—a mix of towed ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide missiles, each over 15 meters long. While a single strike might not deliver a fatal blow, dozens or hundreds of these missiles flying in at once painted a very different picture. The devastation was overwhelming.
「 It takes less than five minutes for the weapons to hit their targets from the continent, depending on the type. Astraea, collect the data for later analysis while you track the enemy’s movements.」
「Understood.」
Kou remained vigilant, observing the battlefield to assess the enemy’s mobility and response capabilities. It wasn’t just Aimer who thought he seemed like a completely different person; Nyanta and Aki, watching from the sidelines, shared the same sentiment.
The ocean surface where the Gorgias had been was now marked by a towering, blood-red water column that continued to rise. At last, the ship was fully submerged beneath the sea. The upper portion of the water column glowed red and brown, a mixture of burning plasma and soil churned together. Beneath the surface, it still burned like an underwater volcano.
「What kind of world has Panjandrums capable of causing a crustal tsunami…」
The Gorgias lay submerged in the magma-heated seafloor. Fortunately for the planet, the impact crater was relatively contained. The surrounding boiling seawater quickly began to encase the area. The weapon’s design—narrowing the impact zone to enhance destructive power while minimizing planetary-scale effects—seemed deliberate.
「You are currently in it, Asia.」
Astraea replied with a sweet smile. Her demeanor had shifted slightly since the trial, her demeanor was now closer to Dike’s.
「That thing is not a panjandrum anymore… we should call it something more appropriate like Devil or Nightmare…」
Asia was left speechless by the horrifying scene, though she worked to grasp the unfolding situation.
A true crustal tsunami occurs when a meteorite impact vaporizes not only seawater but also the seabed itself, creating an ocean of magma. This leads to towering tsunamis several thousand meters high, eventually causing the entire ocean to evaporate. The planet would then endure years of rainfall, global cooling, and transform into a barren wasteland.
Now, the upheaved, magma-heated debris had finally begun to settle.
「Oh no, that’s just a self-propelled mine equipped with the Merlin system.」
If it’s a self-propelled mine, it’s still a Panjandrum, whether large or small. Astraea firmly insisted that the weapon fell into the Panjandrum category.
「Wait… don’t tell me you’re the one who taught Kou about the principles of a crustal tsunami?」
Asia shot a betrayed, accusatory glare at Astraea.
「After the Asia War, Kou consulted with me, remember? From the reconnaissance phase of this operation, Kou had already begun planning. At that time, I suggested utilizing Star with specific angles and velocities to replicate the effects of a celestial collision. As for Star, I take full responsibility.」
「It was my decision.」
Kou interjected.
The seamless synchronization between Astraea and Kou—both appearing proud of their achievement—only fueled Asia’s indignation.
The phenomenon Kou had recreated with precision and devastating focus was inspired by the ten-kilometer-class meteorite believed to have caused the extinction of Earth’s dinosaurs. Using the Panjandrum, he had scaled the event down to an extremely localized level.
While real meteorites come in various types—stony-iron, chondritic, and more—the Star was unique. Though its size was less than 100 meters in diameter, its mass was nearly three times that of a ball of iron of the same size.
「The crustal tsunami was highly localized, and while it’s slightly smaller in scale than the Hanged Man, Star has greater mass. It won’t lead to complete ocean evaporation.」
If complete ocean evaporation were to occur, planet Asia would face a ‘nuclear winter’ lasting months to years, with persistent rain and global cooling. While the seabed around the Gorgias was exposed and melted like magma, the surrounding seawater quickly filled the gaping void. Even now, magma, plasma, and boiling seawater churned together, creating a hellish spectacle.
「The main concern is the weather. Even though the effect is localized, the massive evaporation of seawater could cloud the skies and put the planet at slight risk. I’ll leave that to you, as the planetary management AI, this is within the scope of your duties.」
「Don’t just throw it at me! Weather control is incredibly complex! What if the planet undergoes cooling?!」
「No need to worry. The Star was too small to produce a lasting effect, and the Gorgias acted as an effective cushion. At most, we’ll see rainfall for a week or two.」
「Wait a second! The Gorgias is two kilometers long! A mass of that size will cause terrible damage!」
「Only the shockwave and tsunamis should be affected by the Gorgias’ mass. They were necessary to engulf the enemy fleet.」
「And what if you’d missed?!」
「I have full faith in Eirene. Don’t worry—we ran the calculations.」
There was no chance Eirene would miss in such a critical moment, not in any meaningful way. Astraea’s trust in her ‘younger sister’ was absolute.
「What part of this is supposed to reassure me? Could you please consider planetary stability a little more carefully next time, Miss Weapons Development Oversight AI?!」
Asia sighed, thoroughly exasperated. The sheer amount of evaporated seawater meant the entire planet Asia would soon be blanketed by rain clouds.
「Planetary environment status check: axial tilt, rotational speed, and active fault lines show no abnormalities. Climate change doesn’t seem likely, but…」
Crustal tsunamis occur when celestial bodies several kilometers in size collide, potentially triggering active fault lines and volcanic eruptions across the planet. The Panjandrum used here wasn’t made of ordinary rock or iron but was instead a tungsten-rhenium alloy, clad in space battleship armor and enhanced with higher-dimensional projection technology. Its mass was on a completely different scale.
Most meteorites disintegrate in the atmosphere, even iron ones. But Star remained intact, maintaining its velocity until it struck the Gorgias directly. Its impact was potentially equivalent to a multi-kilometer celestial collision.
Meanwhile, Eirene had begun the retrieval process to prepare Star for reuse.
「It seems I’ll have to create several typhoons…」
If the incident had been severe enough to threaten planetary life, Okeanos would have intervened, and Kou had already confirmed with him beforehand. As Astraea had suggested, the event was unlikely to result in anything worse than rain clouds covering the entire planet.
Still, Asia would need to take countermeasures, such as generating typhoons to focus rain clouds over uninhabited regions.
「At sea, things like this can happen. I was expecting the effects of an iron meteorite, but this turned out far stronger than I anticipated.」
Kou remarked casually as if it were someone else’s problem.
Given the mass of Star—nearly three times that of an iron meteorite—and its deployment speed, which was over twice as fast, the overwhelming power of the impact was only natural.
「Won’t the tsunamis be an issue?」
「The enemy fleet is in the middle of the open ocean. Every continent is at least 3,000 kilometers away, so I don’t think the waves will reach land. Plus, you see that impact cavity on the surface? That’s where the seawater is rushing back in, which prevents effective tsunami formation. There shouldn’t be any significant damage—except for the enemy, of course.」
The screen displayed a surreal scene of towering fire and water columns. The deeper the ocean, the larger the resulting tsunami from a celestial collision.
「Even with such a massive shockwave and tsunami, I doubt it destroyed all the surrounding space battleships. The Gorgias its probably completely destroyed, though.」
Despite an attack comparable to a celestial collision, the surrounding enemy ships hadn’t been completely obliterated. Their designs, built to withstand high-velocity impacts typical of space combat, offered a degree of resilience.
「The internal damage to the Gorgias is likely catastrophic. It’s questionable whether it can even surface, let alone resume combat operations. As for the surrounding Silhouettes, it’s safe to assume they’ve all been annihilated.」
The Angel-class Silhouettes that had been stationed around the Gorgias for protection had melted completely, having been pushed past their boiling points.
「Since we’re underwater, we won’t be directly hit by the tsunami, but the currents are intense.」
「I’ve heard that it’s safer offshore during a tsunami. I guess that applies to being underwater too. Still, we’ll have to be careful not to get carried away by the currents.」
They continued monitoring the Gorgias, but the ocean surface showed no signs of settling.
The collision of such an immense mass had shaken the planet to its core. The sea roiled violently, a stark reminder of the sheer power unleashed.
「It seems the Mercenary Association Headquarters is gone.」
Its core functionality had been housed on the Gorgias.
「Maybe so. Master, this is when power struggles within an organization usually occur, right? If it were a nation, the sovereign leader would become the negotiation counterpart, wouldn’t they?」
「That’s correct.」
「Unless they elect a representative and surrender, the fighting will continue.」
Kou concluded that the outcome of the battle had already been decided in practice.
「This is Outis. Attention, Aubade Force: the operation is proceeding smoothly. All ships, remain submerged. Stay vigilant and be cautious of ocean currents. Do not approach the Star impact site.」
Kou’s commanding voice echoed across the comms.
「At present, we assume the enemy headquarters’ functionality has been lost. However, we cannot afford complacency. It’s possible another organization has taken over the role of headquarters. We will only accept individual surrenders from the Underground Forces.」
「This is Robin. Understood, Outis.」
Despite the apparent victory, caution remained paramount. Once the impact cavity dissipated and the atmospheric environment stabilized, the focus would shift to securing air superiority between the remaining enemy fleet and the Aubade Force fleet. Carefully observing the enemy fleet’s movements was now critical.
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