HEAVY OBJECT:Volume4 Chapter 3

Status: Incomplete

Chapter 3: The Treasure of the Sea Dyed Deep Red >> Defensive Battle in the Solomon District

Part 1

His name was Cardinal Roybelz Oldnick of the Faith Organization.

“So he was the idiot that made those problematic statements,” muttered Froleytia as she looked at the photo displayed on her laptop while distracted by her hangover headache.

While she was alone in the officer room, she was not speaking to herself. A voice chat application was running on the laptop.

Instead of someone from the military, she was speaking with the aide of a politician who dealt with diplomatic issues back in the home country. Basically, the situation had grown complicated enough that a politician like that had to get involved.

An elderly voice spoke over the voice chat, “The Faith Organization began by advocating any and all religions. The religious power that lost the most in that deal was the Christian church. After all, when religions of an older era are revived, the amount of land and number of people they have effective control over will become further divided. It was only natural that some spoke up in fears of their power weakening.”

In reality, they were not having their power taken away from them. Instead, the balance of power was being restored to how it had once been. However, after 2000 years had passed, they no longer saw it that way.

Froleytia put her long, narrow kiseru in her mouth and said, “So this cardinal who feared losing his power took control of the military and went nuts. He caused a civil war with a Greek power and ended up being utterly defeated in a counterattack.”

“It sounds simple enough when you put it like that, but over 5000 people died in the process. The conflict did not fall within the boundaries of a clean war. A lot of civilians from safe countries charged into the battlefield based on some inappropriate remarks he made.”

“Yes, and Oldnick says he merely said the words and he cannot be held responsible for how people interpreted them. What a joke.”

The words of those with power would spread and therefore those people had to be more responsible about the things they said.

It was clear what would happen if some idiot who did not understand that repeatedly made careless statements during a time of war.

Oldnick was a truly dangerous speaker. He had made repeated inappropriate off-the-cuff statements which had led the military and civilians to take action. Many had died from this, but Oldnick only made worse and worse statements when he tried to explain away his previous statements and escape any blame. It all continued to escalate like a snowball rolling down a hill.

For someone with no power, the statements would have been nothing worse than an old man finding fault with a baseball player while watching a game on TV, but things changed when it was someone with the power to move an entire nation.

“The Christian power within the Faith Organization insists the entire incident was Cardinal Roybelz Oldnick’s individual actions, but they are primarily saying this to avoid further investigation from the central power of the Faith Organization. Oldnick has already been excommunicated from the Christian church, and they agreed to send Valkyrie after him as the central power suggested.”

“And now this old man has started shouting even more nonsense now that he is in real danger.”

“At the very least, he wants to avoid being assassinated by Valkyrie. That is how he has been acting ever since the Loyauté district.”

“Does anyone really believe this nonsense about the Legitimacy Kingdom being an ally of the Christian power within the Faith Organization because the ceremonies for royalty and knights have Christian elements to them?”

“If any idiot truly believes that, they need to be taken to the hospital immediately. However, there are plenty of people who will claim it is true to take advantage of the situation. These people think this skirmish is an excellent opportunity to attack some Objects.”

Even in a clean war, a battle between Objects was still expensive.

Part of war was striking a balance between income and expenditures. If that could not be done, the idea of the clean war would come crumbling down.

The elderly voice said, “We do not wish for people to head to war based on the nonsense coming from this cardinal. Even if a conflict with the Faith Organization cannot be avoided outright, we would like for it to be based on something with more value to us.”

“So…”

“We need you to quickly silence this problematic statement emitter. You have three days. How you eliminate him does not matter so long as his identity can be confirmed via DNA.”

Part 2

“So even our Christmas break went exactly as the higher ups had planned.”

Quenser and Heivia were speaking within the Baby Magnum’s maintenance area.

The princess was listening in with as little expression on her face as ever.

“This Cardinal Oldnick had contacted Hyena from the Loyauté district. Some data we found in their headquarters after blowing them away made that clear enough.”

“But why? I would think a cardinal would insist on keeping things clean. Would he really contact a group using the restoration of Oceania as a chance to rob people?”

“We still don’t know what he’s after. He’s causing quite an uproar, but we still can’t figure out what he hopes to achieve in the end. It’s possible he’s just fleeing to save his own skin,” pointed out Heivia offhandedly. “It’s possible he wanted to use them against the Faith Organization’s Valkyrie. Those grim reapers are quite something, but they’re still flesh-and-blood soldiers. There is a chance he was planning to use Hyena to deal with Valkyrie.”

However, Quenser and the rest of the Legitimacy Kingdom had eliminated Hyena before they and Valkyrie could cross paths.

Since Oldnick himself had not been turned to ash, he must have detected some kind of harbinger of the bombardment and fled.

“We know Valkyrie was lurking around the Loyauté district, but I guess he must have escaped them.”

“He must have. After escaping the island, Oldnick likely tried to escape to Oceania where he could slip in amongst the confusion of restoration. With the coalition force confusing everything, a single organization has a harder time moving around than elsewhere. He probably hoped to escape to somewhere else of his choosing after losing Valkyrie in Oceania,” said Quenser as he leaned up against a large piece of machinery. “But before he could, our unit came to rest at the north end of Oceania…and that was exactly where Oldnick was expected to land. That meant he couldn’t land without being blown out of the water, much less disappear into the confusion. Since we had already crushed all of Hyena after he contacted them, Oldnick would have been cautious about approaching us. Just as the higher ups hoped, he had no choice but to head north by sea.”

Roybelz Oldnick was currently using a civilian charter boat to head to the Solomon district which was north of both Oceania and Loyauté.

“The reason he isn’t using an airplane is likely that he is afraid of being targeted with anti-air lasers, but that changes little. Objects can travel at over 500 kph on the sea. Even if the charter boat is a high-speed hydrofoil, he can’t escape.

The princess then cut in.

“By the way, Quenser.”

“What?”

The princess pointed at one wall of the maintenance area and asked her question while still expressionless.

“Why is Heivia writing curses on the wall while speaking with you?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you…”

“Like hell you don’t know!!” shouted Heivia while he glared at and grabbed Quenser. “I heard what happened!! I know what you were doing while I was struggling to save Oceania and our unit! You were keeping all the best parts to yourself!! Why do I keep hearing about a huge-breasted miniskirt bikini Santa!?”

“…That was a type of hell in its own way.”

“You and your damn ‘let them eat cake’ attitude!! You monster!! Are you asking for a fight!?”

Heivia then realized that all the yelling in the world would not get rid of the empty feeling within him, so his mood dropped to a point three times lower than before.

The princess also seemed slightly miffed, but those two idiots were completely oblivious to that fact.

“I honestly think I was the hero this time. I was shining in the spotlight. That cruise missile targeting the maintenance soldiers was similar to our idea of destroying the computer in the Loyauté district to make the Object unusable. The Deep Optical’s unit from the Capitalist Corporations had to be behind it somehow, so I felt like I was opening the first page of some grand epic of a story!! But now that I think back on it, something wasn’t right about the whole thing! Why wasn’t there a single beautiful girl in that story!! All I got was some middle-aged guy named Royce! What the hell kind of miscasting is that!?”

Suddenly, an electronic tone came from one of their radios.

However, it did not come from Quenser or Heivia’s.

It came from the smaller, more expensive one used to inform the princess it was time to scramble the Object.

“What?”

“The situation has changed. Our plan was to intercept that troublesome old man as he headed north through the ocean in the Solomon district, but a Capitalist Corporations Object has appeared cutting off our route.”

Quenser and Heivia exchanged a glance.

“It is the Deep Optical, a Second Generation Object from the Client Security company. I had a feeling we would be engaging it in the near future, but this timing is odd. It is possible Roybelz Oldnick has some connection with them.”

“What exactly is the change to the plan?” asked the princess.

“We had planned to simply have you pursue Oldnick, but we will now have you face the Deep Optical. A separate group will head after Oldnick, but I will explain it all in more detail at the pre-mission briefing.”

Quenser had a question, so he simply asked it.

“Froleytia, do you think the Deep Optical is standing in our way for more than a personal grudge against us?”

He then heard an odd clattering noise come from over the radio.

It sounded like Froleytia had tried to draw back from the radio but had failed as she was sitting down. As a result, she had fallen back in her seat.

“…Qu-Quenser…You were there?”

“Um, Froleytia? Is there a prob-…”

“No!! Don’t say anything!!”

For some reason Froleytia shouted back at him before he could finish speaking.

“Forget everything that happened yesterday!! I don’t remember a thing, so I have no idea what I may have said, but I can tell it was something horrible from the reaction of those around me!! So don’t say a single thing about it!!”

Something had been said that was causing Froleytia to blush out of delighted embarrassment. When Heivia heard that, his self control finally reached its limit and he punched Quenser.

Part 3

Quenser used the short time until the pre-mission briefing to skim through a science magazine.

The old maintenance lady walked over in annoyance.

“If you have time to read that, how about you learn about a real Object?”

“I’ve been feeling some desire for infidelity lately.”

“?”

The old lady looked confused, but Quenser showed her a page of the science magazine.

“This is about the Capitalist Corporations’ liquid prism technology. The Legitimacy Kingdom still hasn’t developed that tech far enough to make a practical weapon. They say the end product ups the output of laser beams by quite a bit.”

“The Legitimacy Kingdom is carrying out research on this. They are a standard component of laser space elevators. They are used to send lasers fired from multiple oscillators in the same direction.”

“Eh? So we do have the actual technology?”

“Yes, but only when it does not have to stand up to the high speed battles Objects go through,” she replied. “Liquid prisms are created by filling transparent containers with a special liquid. The inside of the container is covered with electrodes and electrochemical control of the chemical interface is used to artificially alter the concentration of the liquid. Differences in concentration are used to bend the light.”

“I see. But what does that have to do with high speed battles?”

“Sudden turns cause high G forces that will disturb the liquid within the liquid prism. The artificial alterations to the concentration of liquid within the container will be undone, bringing the liquid back to an even concentration. That is why it is difficult to put liquid prisms on an Object that makes quick movements and shakes with the firing of shells. Another problem is that the high temperatures created when the laser passes through will agitate the liquid as well,” explained the old lady. “The key to the Capitalist Corporations’ technology is not the liquid prism technology itself. It is the shock resistance technology and temperature countermeasures used to prevent external interference with the liquid prism. For example, they could use laser vibration detectors, fast-acting coolants, or cartridges. But even with all those technologies, an Object with a liquid prism aboard will have limited combat options. It will avoid making quick movements like our princess does. That means liquid prism technology has limited uses for Objects. Or at least it does not match the needs of our unit.”

“It’s a shame the technology doesn’t fit in more nicely than that.”

“If there was no risk to using it, Objects around the world would be using them. Also, that science magazine will only have the information they see no problem with letting the public know about. I would say there is more value in watching maintenance on an actual Object rather than reading that thing.”

“It’s in my nature to try to find a shortcut.”

With a grumble of complaint, Quenser stood up.

Once again, it seemed his only option was the standard path.

Part 4

The pre-mission briefing began.

A projector displayed a map of the ocean in the Solomon district. Froleytia spoke as a few arrows were added on top.

“Our primary target is Roybelz Oldnick who is travelling north through the Solomon district sea. Do not forget that every action during this mission should be taken in order to carry out that objective.”

However, a giant shape had interposed itself between the north of Oceania and Oldnick’s boat.

“But the real danger lies in the fact that the Capitalist Corporations’ Deep Optical has been deployed in order to cut off our path. Unless we do something about it, we cannot finish off Oldnick before he flees. As such, the Baby Magnum must engage the Deep Optical.”

Heivia asked a question.

“Are we to remain on standby until our princess has sent the Deep Optical to rest on the bottom of the ocean? Or are we going to head after Oldnick by taking a large detour around the Object while the princess is drawing its attention?”

“That would be the best option, but we do not have time.” Froleytia added an arrow pointing to the west of Oldnick’s boat. “An unidentified submarine has surfaced. We do not know if it belongs to the Deep Optical’s unit or if it belongs to the remnants of Oldnick’s military force, but this could become much more difficult if Oldnick’s boat rendezvouses with the submarine.”

“So we have to crush him before that happens. …But how?”

Froleytia’s shoulders stiffened a bit at hearing Quenser’s voice, but her self control won out.

“As I said, the princess will engage the Deep Optical.” Froleytia added another arrow heading right along the arrow indicating the shortest route. “But there is more to the ocean than the surface. A different group will head straight there while travelling deep under the ocean. Currently, we have no other way to catch up to Oldnick.”

Froleytia drew a large circle around an area of sea even further north of where Oldnick was.

“One other thing. Just north of the operation area is an precious metal ocean mining plant financed by the Legitimacy Kingdom. Simply put, small filters are used to collect the metals dissolved into the ocean water and the metals are then condensed. The higher ups fear that valuable tungsten deposits will be lost in this battle. Make sure you do not forget that.”

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.

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.

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.