Next Stage
「I do not care about that panjandrum or whatever it’s called. Was that explosion not nuclear in nature, Vasa?」
Castor accepted the situation and tried to further understand it.
He also tried not to think about the weapon called panjandrum so much.
Vasa was impressed. Alberto was still dumbfounded by the recent events.
「The analysis is done. It’s most likely a type of excited electron explosive. On Earth, metallic helium was considered the most likely candidate in order to produce such an explosive, but here in the Nemesis system, they probably made use of metallic hydrogen instead. It’s a next-generation explosive with incomparable efficiency. But it’s still under the category of regular explosives.」
It was powerful enough to melt down an Ate and it wasn’t even a thermobaric bomb.
The fact that such a powerful weapon was in the hands of the enemy surprised Castor and his cohorts greatly. They raised their vigilance against their foes by several levels.
「Can we also manufacture such an explosive compound ourselves?」
「It’s probably impossible. And stuffing such a powerful explosive inside panjandrums is just plain madness.」
「That’s probably because the enemy Development Engineer is just that crazy.」
Alberto grinned wryly. He didn’t expect panjandrums to follow after drill tanks.
「However, with this, we now know the true form of those armor-piercing anti-materiel shells they used against the Ate. They were probably manufactured using the new explosive compound. I don’t think they will apply this technology that much on missiles though.」
「What do you mean by that? Wouldn’t it become a new kind of tactical weapon?」
「There’s no doubt that it can serve as a trump card. However, it would probably just be limited to use against sufficiently large targets such as giant Murders and space carriers. It they want to spread that new explosive’s use more, they would probably just choose that anti-materiel rifle as a platform instead. The reason they didn’t put the new explosive compound in missiles and rockets is probably because they’re afraid of triggering an accidental detonation.」
「That’s quite cautious of them.」
「The fact that it’s very powerful is a risk in itself. Just how many people have died due to accidental detonations since ancient times? Most likely, only the enemy Development Engineer and ones who are close to them would be allowed to use weapons outfitted with the new explosive technology.」
「Fumu. So, you are saying there is no need for us to overreact, correct?」
「There will also be restriction in terms of cost and the types of units that can make use of such weapons. In other words, I don’t think that anti-materiel rifle would become standard equipment.」
Castor quieted down and considered the battles between Metal Iris and the Argonauts that would undoubtedly take place from here on out.
「In any case, even if it won’t turn into standard equipment, we still have to be fully prepared for it.」
「Indeed. There is a need to increase our vigilance against sniper units.」
「I’ll leave the countermeasures to you, Vasa.」
「Please rest assured.」
Vasa had already begun envisioning all sorts of scenarios.
They included the deployment of a sniper squad equipped with the new super-long barrel railguns.
「The difference in strength and performance between the new-generation Silhouettes and old-model Murders has greatly shocked even my fellow Stones. The managers of each Fortress Area had all switched to Silhouette production.」
「What is the situation regarding the new Murders being developed on Planet Libya?」
Alberto doubts that the Murders that have supported the advancement of the Stones for decades would be dismissed so easily.
Many on their side still think it was inefficient to use people who had their free will taken from them after all.
「About that. There seems to have been a large-scale incident that occurred last month. We have lost all contact with the main quantum body of Libya. The new Murder models also seem to be displaying anomalies, so Planet Libya is off-limits for the time being.」
「My word!」
「It seems that the Super AI tried to fuse a Familiar’s Telema AI with a Murder’s core program and failed spectacularly. A part of the new Murder models actually assimilated MCS and became abnormal and uncontrollable.」
「Why did it even try to risk mixing things that are obviously incompatible……?」
「I do not know.」
No matter how one looked at it, the Telema AI whose core action guideline was to be beholden to humanity and Murders that were made to fight and kill humans were fundamentally incompatible.
Alberto and the rest couldn’t fathom what Libya’s Super AI was thinking.
「Then, that means that we can only manufacture Murders in Asia for the time being.」
「That is the case. But production will eventually switch to Silhouettes or other weapons depending on the situation.」
Castor glanced at his terminal and confirmed their current military strength.
They still held many Silhouettes, tanks, and aircraft. For the time being, he was the only one who held such a powerful force at his disposal.
But there were several Stones that have taken up his proposal as well. They could already be considered a faction.
「It looks like it’s finally time to move on to the next stage.」
「The real show will start once the artificial sun is extinguished. There are about three or four days left. The enemies will probably double down on destroying as many Murders as they can from now on. I don’t think they would have that much time left to prepare more surprises.」
「I see. So, it is finally time for the main military arm of the Argonauts, the Argoforce, to take the stage.」
「Yes. I’ve also made certain preparations of my own in lieu of this. I believe they will be more than enough to win this war even without relying on Murders to conduct attrition warfare.」
「We will deploy the new weapons created by the three of us. They have Astraea, but behind us is the wealth of knowledge accumulated by the Stones. We will surely not fall behind.」
Castor strongly asserted. It was a firm and confident declaration.
The Ate was destroyed, and those in the Cimon-class ships cheered. Barry sank deeply into the captain’s seat.
The Eris was defeated, and all Ates were finally destroyed as well. The results were far better than they hoped for.
「Bob, good job. You did really well. Rick and Fuyuki too.」
「You guys better wait till we get back to the surface.」
「Good grief. I’m already worn down from all the stress. It’s all that damned P’s fault.」
Robert was in space. He will need to course correct and would take about a day to return to the surface.
Rick seemed to be mentally exhausted due to the matter regarding the Wheel of Fortune Mk. II.
「But don’t let your guards down just yet, everyone. It’s not like those thousands of Murders are all gone. They probably won’t even consider retreating after going this far.」
「Leave it to us. Both the ground forces and the air support forces will definitely not let their guards down.」
Rick, who was the cornerstone of the ground forces, was firmly in command. Hence, Barry was reassured.
「We’re finally going to engage in battle with the Argonauts next huh?」
「If this was just the opening act, then it makes you really wonder about what’s coming next.」
Jenny also remained cautious.
The words of the Development Engineer who unleashed a large number of giant Murders on them at the same time and declared that they were just the opening act shouldn’t be false.
The main battle with the Argonauts was coming next.
「We would have been crushed by those giant Murders without Aimer-chan.」
「That’s not true. This is all thanks to everyone’s efforts. Your hand in the formation of Ulysses is really impressive, Commander Barry.」
Aimer immediately denied credit. After all, without the help of the Ulysses forces, Aimer would have been in grave danger, and might have even lost her life.
It all boiled down to Barry’s preparations behind the scenes and his political acumen.
「Gee, don’t praise me too much! Oh, right. When this war is over, I’ll give Kou a vacation, so make sure to play with him to your heart’s content, Aimer-chan.」
「I will. Thank you very much.」
Aimer shyly nodded while looking pleased. She was probably happy that she’ll get to spend more time with Kou.
「Just a few days more huh? We’ll have to decide on our next moves first.」
And their next moves will probably be–
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