“To think things would turn out like this in the blink of an eye…”
“How do you like it, Ma’am?”
＜Ringo＞ proudly presented it to Commander (Eve), who was staring blankly at it.
“The seaborne aircraft carrier, ＜Naglfar＞. It can carry a maximum of 180 aircraft. I did my best.”
“That’s amazing…”
As far as she could tell from a quick look at the specs, it seemed to be able to pack 180 carrier-based aircraft with an overall length of about 18 meters. In addition to that, it could also carry a decent number of rotorcraft and multi-legged tanks.
It was able to carry so much because it was an unmanned vessel optimized for various equipment.
“The flagship is the battleship ＜Hringhorni＞. There are also two Panas-class cruisers, four Nigra-class cruisers, six Hedgehog-class destroyers, and four Armadillo-class destroyers. These are the ships belonging to the ＜The Tree＞ Ocean First Fleet.”
“I know… all the resources we’d been hoarding disappeared in one go. Battleships really do require a ridiculous amount of construction materials…”
Most of the resources produced by ＜The Tree＞ were poured into battleships and aircraft carriers. Of course, a sufficient amount of resources were being allocated to mining facilities, so it could be recovered in a short period of time.
“They are all newly built ships, and we have also incorporated new types of cruisers and destroyers. A sufficient testing period is necessary in order to carry out further additional construction in the future.”
“Haa… I wonder if trade would have gone more smoothly if we had this…”
Eve recalled the hardships she had faced so far and let out a big sigh. Well, she herself hadn’t really had any hardships.
With such a large fleet, they could have sailed to the Repuytari Kingdom and forced them to surrender completely without any troublesome negotiations. Not that she would do that.
“Will you be using it for future diplomatic activities?”
“I wonder. It depends on the other party’s level of civilization, and it would be troublesome if we provoked them too much and they formed a large alliance.”
A powerful force can intimidate the other party. In the worst case, it could even lead to them forming an alliance. Gunboat diplomacy requires careful consideration, or the relationship with the other party could become severely twisted. Eve judged this from her past experience.
Showing an appropriate amount of power is the most effective approach.
“Well, let’s celebrate the completion of the fleet for now. You’ll show me the fleet in action later, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We will hold a fleet review and conduct maritime operations as part of training. In fact, it is difficult to accurately reproduce vibrations during navigation even in simulations, so practical experience is essential.”
Eve nodded at ＜Ringo＞’s words. It is realistically impossible to clarify everything with simulations. Even if it were computationally possible, the calculation results would not be correct unless all conditions were identical to the real world.
＜Ringo＞ skillfully trims information in that area, and defines lightweight simulation functions by comparing calculation results with test results. Even so, it’s probably not on a scale that one person can understand.
“Alright. Then, I’ll just observe today. If you’re free, let’s call everyone else too. We’ll be using this fleet in various ways in the future.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I will prepare tea.”
◇◇◇◇
Everyone gathered in the observation room of Fortress ＜The Tree＞, sitting around a round table and chatting.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we’ve all gathered like this to do something.”
“We gather less often during the day. Everyone is usually doing something else.”
Akane replied to Eve’s grumbling.
Indeed, Eve recalled the recent situation.
Eve was often formulating policies with ＜Ringo＞, and each of her sisters was linked to their own strategic AIs and tactical AIs in various locations, which were their offspring, to gather information, so the opportunity to work face-to-face had decreased considerably.
They still gathered in Eve’s bed every night, but that was the usual, so it was excluded.
“Well, today is the unveiling of ＜The Tree＞’s regular fleet. Let’s all take a leisurely look.”
“Okay~”
Everyone was currently gathered on ＜The Tree＞’s observation deck. The sea level was about 50 meters high. It was an all-weather type with full glass walls, and everything outside could be seen, including the ground below, except for the rear.
However, even from that height, it was impossible to see the details of the fleet with the naked eye. It would be too dangerous to move the fleet within visible range.
“This is footage from a drone deployed in the sky.”
＜Ringo＞ displayed an overhead view of the fleet in motion.
Currently, the Ocean First Fleet was sailing at high speed in a circular formation.
The battleship Hringhorni, followed by the aircraft carrier Naglfar. The Panas-class cruisers and Nigra-class cruisers were arranged to surround these two ships, and the Hedgehog-class destroyers and Armadillo-class destroyers were positioned around them.
“What a magnificent circular formation!”
Eve was overjoyed at the sight. ＜Ringo＞ also looked very satisfied.
The Hringhorni and Naglfar primarily use water jet propulsion. They have multiple jet nozzles below the waterline and can adjust the water flow to maintain maximum acceleration at all times.
Therefore, despite their massive size, they can achieve considerable speed.
They were already exceeding 70 km/h at this point.
“＜Ringo＞. It looks like you can accelerate more, but are you going to do it today?”
Olive, who had been reading through the specifications, asked ＜Ringo＞. She had recently been designing land battleships with Asahi, so she didn’t seem to be aware of the specs of surface ships.
“Yes, that’s the plan. Cruising seems to be fine for now, so let’s try high-speed sailing mode next.”
Both the Hringhorni and Naglfar are equipped with fusion reactors, which convert the enormous electrical energy generated into propulsive force using plasma jet turbines.
By operating these at full power, they can achieve tremendous acceleration.
“Circular formation released. Each ship retreats to its designated position.”
However, due to the nature of water jets, operating at full power scatters a huge amount of water flow behind the jet nozzles. In particular, it is difficult to form a formation when operating at full power because the water is ejected regardless of efficiency.
Simply put, the water flow is disrupted, making it impossible for the ships behind to maintain their speed.
“Engine output is increasing.”
White trails appeared behind the Hringhorni and Naglfar, which were now side by side. At the same time, the speed of both ships increased rapidly.
“Exceeded 80 km/h, acceleration continues. All sensor values are normal. Structural deformation values are within the expected range.”
The giant ships accelerated. They exceeded the top speed of the somewhat older Hedgehog-class and still seemed to have room to spare.
“We need to either modify the Hedgehog-class to increase its speed or replace it.”
“Yes, Ma’am. High-speed sailing is performing as expected. We plan to modify and update each ship based on this speed in the future.”
The hull structure has plenty of margin, and a large amount of deuterium fuel can be loaded. Since it can maintain its maximum speed for a long period of time, the entire fleet needs to be reviewed accordingly.
Fortunately, the microwave power supply allows for self-sufficient and virtually unlimited supply of navigation energy.
It could be operated as a high-speed strike fleet.
“Finally, the aircraft carrier Naglfar will deploy all of its aircraft.”
The deck of the Naglfar, which had slowed down slightly for stable navigation, unfolded, and four electromagnetic catapults appeared.
“Oh, carrier-based aircraft!”
“Continuous launch, huh! My arms are itching!”
Utsugi and Erika, who are good at commanding and operating automatic machines, cheered at the sight. In fact, the tactical AIs that control the carrier-based aircraft are U-class and E-class, which are based on them.
Inside the monitor that the two were staring at, carrier-based aircraft were launched one after another from the catapults. The launch rate was about one aircraft every three seconds. Since there were four systems, the deployment of 180 aircraft would be completed in 135 seconds, or just over two minutes.
Eve had grasped the catalog specs, but when she actually saw it, it was an incredible speed. It was a feat possible only because no living humans were on board.
The area around the Naglfar was as white as if a smokescreen had been set off, due to the coolant that had re-condensed after evaporation.
“180 carrier-based aircraft have been successfully deployed. No particular problems were observed. The heat dissipation function is also operating normally.”
“Hmm, overwhelming…”
180 fighters can be deployed in a matter of minutes. With this force, even if the Wyvern from before attacked, it could be shot down without any problems.
Of course, this was the expected outcome, as the force was calculated with that in mind.