The Power of One Petawatt-Second
A few hours before the operation to capture the Megareus. This event took place before Kou’s nap.
「Use Astraea as bait? I absolutely oppose this.」
Kou spoke firmly.
Aimer had proposed preparing for an intercepting stance, assuming that the enemy would concentrate on Astraea.
「It’s not about being bait. If we look at the enemy’s past actions and their strategic objectives, it’s inevitable that Astraea will be targeted.」
「Master?」
「Ships like the Aristides class or the Cimon class are combat vessels. However, the Hora class are ships primarily focused on logistics, without them we wouldn’t be able to maintain the offensive. It’s obvious the enemy will try to take them down.」
「But…」
「Admiral Aimer’s name is already well known to the enemy. It’s the price of fame.」
Kou clenched his teeth, his eyes dark with unease. He didn’t want to put Aimer in danger anymore.
「The enemy will likely focus on defending the Megareus, right?」
「Defense it’s not enough, they need to attack to protect the Megareus. If our rear is in danger, the number of forces attacking the Megareus will decrease. Aimer predicted that an attack on Astraea might happen as part of their active defense strategy. Of course, this is just a possibility, though.」
Kou had no words to respond with.
The tension was so palpable that even the Familia present began to feel uneasy. It was rare to see Kou like this.
「Neither side has the luxury of deploying forces around the Megareus simultaneously. The battlefield is just too vast.」
Kou closed his eyes for a moment, resolving himself.
「Use every means at our disposal, flawlessly, without fail. Astraea, prepare every weapon system I’ve developed. Lift all restrictions on everything except the electron-excitation explosives. We will eliminate all obstacles without fail.」
Everything—this command was ultimate and dangerous. Aimer and the others immediately understood its gravity.
「Understood.」
Astraea seemed delighted. It was rare for Kou to give an order to unleash their full power.
And once the order was given, there would be no holding back. After all, she was the terminal of the super AI overseeing all weapons development.
「I won’t let anyone lay a hand on Aimer or Astraea ever again. It won’t just end with a light beating—they’ll regret it so much they’ll wish they were dead.」
Kou’s tone was calm, almost indifferent. It was clear that Astraea being targeted had triggered his trauma.
The two, Aimer and Astraea, were inwardly pleased by his declaration.
「Heh, so the plan is to make anyone who dares lay a hand on the ladies regret it and send them packing, right?」
A Doberman-type Familia asked, while many other Familiars stood ready in the background.
「Send them packing? No, murder them a… cough—completely defeat them. Anyone who dares to touch Astraea or Aimer will be met with the embrace of Thanatos.」
Kou had to be careful with his choice of words. Malice spreads, after all. In this case, Kou made a mistake in his phrasing, unintentionally using far stronger words than he had meant to.
Thanatos—the personification of death itself from Greek mythology. A god seated in the deepest part of Tartarus, the underworld. Kou, who had studied Greek mythology, instinctively thought of this god.
「Th-Thanatos, sir?」
The Doberman-type Familiar was momentarily speechless. Being a Telema AI with knowledge of classical mythology, the Familias were highly influenced by such references.
Astraea, the goddess who presides over the scales of justice and fairness. And now, Thanatos—the very embodiment of death.
「Deliver death equally to whoever dares to lay a hand on the two of them.」
That’s how they interpreted it. For the Big Boss to go this far… They could feel how serious he was.
「Hey! Did you all hear that? The Big Boss wants the enemy reduced to dust as much as possible!」
The Doberman-type Familia grinned, clearly pleased with Kou’s words.
If the boss orders it, there’s no choice but to comply. Kou had essentially given the command for a massacre. The Doberman-type Familia, with an air reminiscent of an underboss in a yakuza gang, riled up the others. The other Familia, excited, stirred with anticipation.
There might have been some misunderstanding, but Kou let it be. In any case, dealing with enemies targeting Astraea, who wasn’t even on the main battlefield, required more than just ‘fending them off’. They had to make it clear that touching her would not just result in burns—it would be far worse.
「If it comes down to it, we will also board the Epona and fight, nya.」
「That’s right. We will protect Astraea.」
「I’m counting on you… This place has become like our home now, after all.」
Nyanta and Aki smiled warmly at Kou’s words. This place was their home. And they were family.
「I’ll be on the front lines, so I can’t turn back. I’ll have Fuyuki-san’s combat engineers prepare the necessary measures too. Astraea is needed on the front, but don’t push too far forward unnecessarily, Aimer.」
「Got it!」
Aimer nodded. The fact that Kou wasn’t telling her to stay off the front lines was a significant step forward.
「And then… hmm…」
While Kou drifted into thought, Aimer turned to Astraea and began discussing the immediate construction of weaponry.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
「Message from recon officer Recon: The enemy’s ground forces have started moving! Looks like they’re gathering the remaining ground battleships.」
「The patrol aircraft have also detected movement in the enemy’s Fortress Area, nya.」
Aimer nodded in acknowledgment to Aki’s and Nyanta’s report.
「All units, prepare for interception. Astraea, are you ready?」
「I’m fully prepared. Don’t underestimate Kou’s overprotectiveness.」
Astraea replied with a rare mischievous smile. That smile brought a sense of reassurance to Aimer.
「Yeah, you can’t underestimate Kou’s overprotectiveness. It’s going to be something incredible, I’m sure.」
Aimer muttered to herself, as if to reaffirm her own thoughts.
Astraea’s current mission was to act as a forward supply base on the front lines. Supply units were deployed to handle ammo and repairs, constantly supplied by convoys and transport planes flying in from behind. Inside the ship, Marl, Flack, and many work Silhouettes were busy with emergency repairs and replacement operations.
Outside, the Quattro Workers were managing ammunition supplies. For every unit on the front lines, a great number of logistics personnel was needed, they were supplementing their lack of personnel with Silhouettes.
「Message from the patrol aircraft: enemy aerial carriers have launched from both Fortress Area Q019 and Q221. Numerous escort units detected, nya.」
「They’re not sending reinforcements to the Megareus, but coming at us instead, huh? The Megareus is closer to those two Fortress Areas, so they have probably sent their fighters there directly. Facing two carriers is unexpected, but still within expectations. Astraea, I’m giving you an order, all weapon restrictions are lifted.」
The new weapons entrusted by Kou could only be unlocked with Aimer’s command.
「Commencing weapons deployment. Large-caliber laser weapon Onikiri, preparing for firing.」
The laser was the epitome of optical weaponry. With its ability to interfere with waves through coherent light, it could concentrate immense energy to destroy its target. Moving at the speed of light, it was impossible to evade.
「A laser? Not a railgun?」
In the era of interplanetary warfare, lasers were indeed frequently used, primarily for destroying small enemy craft with a single pulse. However, in high-speed space combat, large-caliber weapons like railguns or charged particle cannons, which relied on physical mass, were often more effective.
「I designed the barrel myself.」
「I handled the internal structural adjustments along with Arges, nya.」
Kou usually avoided laser guns, and the reason was simple. Nyanta and Aki had once been treated as unnecessary due to the prevalence of optical weapons during the interplanetary war. Kou wanted to avoid using technology that might evoke painful memories for them. While they appreciated his thoughtfulness, they had given their all in designing the Onikiri.
At its core, Kou’s reluctance came from his deep respect for their feelings. Yet, Nyanta and Aki had long since moved beyond the past. They understood that Kou respected them fully, and they didn’t want their old traumas to become a burden on him.
「This is not just any laser. The Onikiri is an ultra-high-intensity laser with a power output of one quadrillion watts—a full petawatt. It fires for one second, delivering the energy of one petajoule. These are the theoretical values, of course.」
「Those numbers are too big to comprehend.」
「In the era Kou came from, it was said that several megajoules of energy were needed to penetrate the armor of a tank. This weapon’s power is literally orders of magnitude greater. And remember, Kou unleashed this weapon to protect us.」
「Yeah.」
The primary battlefield was near the Megareus, if the enemy were to target Astraea, it would not be their main force. Kou’s strategy was clear: use overwhelming firepower to instill fear, making it clear that anyone who tried to attack Astraea would pay for it dearly.
「This laser is on par with the ones from the interplanetary war, producing several times the heat of the Ate’s charged particle cannon and boasting megaton-class destructive power.」
「That’s incredible! With that kind of power, couldn’t we even take out the Megareus? Maybe use all three Hora-class to fire a full barrage?」
「The downside makes that impossible. This weapon draws an immense amount of power. Firing a single shot consumes 80% of the Astraea’s energy reserves. In that state, we’d be unable to move. And even with this level of power, it wouldn’t be enough to penetrate the Megareus’ armor. Lasers, despite their power, are easy to counter.」
Most warships using armor materials from the interplanetary war had built-in defenses against extreme heat, such as metallic coatings, insulative layers, and reflective materials designed to repel high-energy lasers.
「I see…」
Aimer muttered, sounding slightly disappointed. She had hoped for more versatile options.
「But against those aerial carriers? They’ll be gone in a single shot.」
Astraea’s reassurance quickly cheered Aimer.
「So against new aerial carriers made with contemporary technology…!」
「Indeed. It will destroy them with overwhelming force.」
Even on Earth during Kou’s time, achieving petawatt-level output was possible, but only for extremely brief moments measured in femtoseconds—quadrillionths of a second. In terms of total energy in joules, this amounted to less than twenty joules. It was primarily used for research in laser nuclear fusion and manipulating molecular structures to explore new materials.
「What about the issue of attenuation?」
「We’ve solved that.」
Astraea replied, her joy evident.
After humanity was forced into a dormant state, and technology was sealed after the Interplanetary War came to a sudden end, no new technological development had happened for a long time. This new technology might be nothing compared with what once existed it was a breakthrough comparable to the unsealing of the technology to create metallic hydrogen.
Like charged particle cannons, lasers also faced significant challenges when used inside the atmosphere. One such issue was the ‘blooming’ effect, where megajoule-level laser beams caused the air to refract, severely diminishing the laser’s effectiveness. However, this attenuation problem was largely resolved when humanity was still on Earth. Using ultra-shortwave laser pulses, the air’s atoms could be instantly ionized, balancing the electromagnetic waves and plasma fibers generated by the pulse, allowing the laser beam to focus through the atmosphere.
What made this continuous, second-level beam possible was a combination of cutting-edge technologies: the ultra-high-performance OPCPA (Optical Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplification) system, the energy supply from metallic hydrogen, and the A-Carbuncle Reactor. While the Onikiri seemed to be a single barrel, it actually housed over a hundred complex internal barrels, focusing the laser beams at the target point with precision.
「As a trade-off, we need a full second of continuous irradiation to achieve its true power. The gunner is ready.」
「Leave it to me, Aimer.」
Ponko, seated at the gunner’s station reassured Aimer.
Kou had entrusted Ponko with the task of protecting Aimer, Ponko, once a caretaker robot intended to accomplish this task even if she had to destroy herself in the process.
「Target aligned. Firing now.」
The moment the crosshairs locked onto the aerial carrier, the laser was fired. For one full second, there was no sound—just pure, silent devastation. In an instant, the ship’s hull melted and then violently exploded. The A-Carbuncle reactor was destroyed, and the metallic hydrogen housed inside the ship likely triggered a secondary explosion.
The enemy aircraft escorting the carrier were caught in the blast radius, many of them also exploding or plummeting from the sky. It all happened so quickly that most wouldn’t have been able to grasp what had occurred.
「Just one second… Incredible.」
Aimer whispered in shock.
Even as a display of power, the destruction was overwhelming. The impact of this action would ripple across not only the Argoforce but the entire Stones. She could imagine Barry in the front lines, screaming in disbelief, likely shouting, Kou, what did you just do again?!
From the chaos that came from the communication lines, it seemed no one had informed him beforehand. Aimer could see Aki hurriedly trying to explain what had just happened to their allies.
「Navigation systems are down. Plasma barriers are also offline. They’ll be restored in twenty minutes.」
「The power is incredible, but… yeah, it’s definitely not usable against the Megareus,」 Aimer muttered.
The Astraea, now unable to move and defenseless without the plasma barriers, would be an easy target. Aimer could easily imagine how quickly they could be taken down in this state.
「One more carrier left. Kou gave us this power to protect us. We need to use this maximum firepower to turn the tide in our favor. From here, it’s up to us.」
Kou had sealed this weapon for a reason, and Aimer understood that all too well. They couldn’t waste the resolve he’d shown in releasing it.
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