Episode 337: Meteor Fall
I was in bed with a cold last week! Sorry!
The Hringhorni-class Battleship ＜Breiðablik＞ points its cannons towards the sky.
Four triple-barreled Multi-Stage Electromagnetic Cannons (Coil Cannons), twelve barrels in total, leak vapor that turns into white smoke from cooling.
Then, the signal to commence firing is transmitted.
From the twelve barrels, Cannon Shells are launched simultaneously. Their initial velocity is approximately 8,000 m/s.
The launched Cannon Shells are scheduled to fly through space for over ten minutes, descending towards a target 1,200 km away.
These Smart Cannon Shells are fired at a rate of 12 rounds per minute per barrel, totaling 144 rounds per minute from the ship alone.
The continuous barrage lasts for 10 minutes, with a total of 1,440 Cannon Shells in flight.
◇◇◇◇
“Smart Cannon Shells, flying normally.”
Countless points of light move at an altitude of about 1,000 km.
These are the Cannon Shells fired by the Battleship ＜Breiðablik＞, designed to counter ＜The Reflector＞.
“I wonder if this will be effective…”
The leading group of Cannon Shells carries Burnstone Warheads, designed to neutralize the Magic Barrier.
Following them are Depleted Uranium Warheads, intended to penetrate the neutralized Magic Barrier and collide with the Threat Creature’s main body. However, to penetrate the flesh enhanced by Magic (Fantasy), the front 10% is composed of Burnstone.
Overall, all the Warheads incorporate Burnstone, making them an incredibly expensive group of Cannon Shells from the Repuytari Kingdom’s perspective.
From ＜The Tree＞’s point of view, it’s just using a portion of the Burnstone it produces in large quantities.
The Cannon Shells, tracing parabolic arcs, pass their apex and enter their descent trajectory.
＜The Reflector＞’s precise coordinates are shared from communication satellites, which have captured its signals, to the Cannon Shells’ control units.
The Smart Cannon Shells use GPS signals to ascertain their position, but after entering the atmosphere, they will fall towards their target point using an inertial guidance system.
＜The Tree＞’s inertial guidance system is extremely precise, with an hourly error of only a few centimeters in known regions. At least, its accuracy can be sufficiently expected in the current operational area.
“＜The Reflector＞’s movement speed is within the expected range. Calculation of the final drop point is complete. Transmitting location information to the Cannon Shells.”
And the operational situation was being reported in detail by the Doll Machine (Communicator) operated by ＜Iris＞, standing beside Eve.
It’s a reward for ＜Iris＞, who is working hard on-site.
Meanwhile, the Smart Cannon Shells, having received the impact point sent by ＜Iris＞, are falling while making fine adjustments with their fins.
This time, the Cannon Shells themselves are not equipped with propulsion devices. The propulsion comes entirely from the initial velocity at the time of firing.
The Cannon Shells are shaped to reduce air resistance, taking into account entry into the atmosphere from space. They are also equipped with heat shields to protect the Warheads from the high temperatures generated.
“I wonder what the terminal velocity of the Warheads will be?”
“According to the simulation, approximately 5,000 m/s. Direct fire would be more powerful, but…”
“I certainly don’t want to get close enough to fire directly…”
For some reason, the Gravitational Acceleration in the high-altitude regions of this planet is about twice that of the ground. Therefore, even free-falling can result in a more powerful attack than expected.
Of course, it’s also because the Cannon Shells were designed by ＜The Tree＞ that air resistance is minimized.
To improve the terminal velocity just before impact on the target, final acceleration with rocket motors would be necessary. However, that would make the rocket fuel and other components dead weight, so opinions would be divided on which is superior.
“…Electromagnetic Waves radiation confirmed from ＜The Reflector＞.”
And then.
＜The Reflector＞, which had only been moving until now, begins to take active action here.
“Microwave radiation confirmed. Observing frequency bands of 2-4 GHz. Continuing to confirm the 10 GHz band. Pulse waves confirmed.”
“Onee-sama, it seems like ＜The Reflector＞ has noticed something!”
“…It noticed the Cannon Shells in space?”
“Directional radar waves confirmed. The Cannon Shells have been captured.”
In the super-telephoto image, ＜The Reflector＞ stops its advance.
It extends its long neck, and its gaze is directed towards the Cannon Shells that have entered their descent trajectory.
The Cannon Shells are still about 400 km in altitude.
Aerodynamic heating has not yet begun to cause them to glow, so if they were noticed, it would only be due to the reflection of light from the primary star.
“Clearly, the emission of radar waves began after it noticed them. Moreover, it visually confirmed them even later. What is this? Is it some kind of Magic (Fantasy)? Something like danger detection or future prediction…”
“Future prediction with that huge body…? No, is it precisely because of that huge body…?”
While Eve and Asahi are having a casual conversation, the Doll Machine (Communicator) operated by ＜Iris＞ updates the information on the front display with an indifferent attitude.
Of course, everything can be handled remotely, but she deliberately operates it manually because it pleases her beloved Onee-sama.
“…Approximately 5 minutes until impact. Entry angle normal. Estimated impact error within 20m.”
“If it’s 20m, it’s almost certainly a direct hit. Considering its size.”
Accelerating under the pull of Gravity, the Cannon Shells fall towards ＜The Reflector＞.
And surely, it had been captured by ＜The Reflector＞.
◇◇◇◇
The altitude of the Cannon Shells fell below 100 km, and red-hot heating due to aerodynamic heating had already occurred.
A large number of small, orange-glowing meteors appeared. The number was a staggering 1,440.
The sky was lightly clouded on this day.
The brilliance of the Cannon Shells flying in from space could be seen without being obstructed.
＜The Reflector＞ stopped in its tracks, facing the Cannon Shells falling towards it.
Its enormous eyeballs seemed to be firmly watching them.
The falling speed of the Cannon Shells was approximately 5,000 m/s. In about 10 more seconds, they would impact their target, ＜The Reflector＞.
＜The Reflector＞ opened its mouth wide and roared.
The image flickered, centered on its head.
The refractive index of light was changing due to the rapid change in atmospheric pressure.
Almost simultaneously, a white light appeared about 130m above.
This was an unknown phenomenon at this point, but later analysis revealed that it was also a cloud generated by changes in atmospheric pressure.
It was something like a Barrier created by ＜The Reflector＞ generating some kind of Magic (Fantasy) effect.
If this had been a shockwave using the atmosphere, like the one it had shown before.
Or if it had been a physical Barrier, like creating rocks in the air.
The subsequent developments would have been greatly different.
First, the Burnstone Warheads flying at the front collided with this film of light.
The colliding Burnstone Warheads were crushed by their own kinetic energy. If they were normal Warheads, they would have simply shattered, but their main component was Burnstone.
The kinetic energy was converted into pressure, and the Burnstone disappeared in an instant.
And that disappearance became an enormous amount of heat, heating the surroundings to an ultra-high temperature of tens of thousands of degrees Celsius.
The heating, accompanied by a Magic (Fantasy) phenomenon, broke through the deployed Barrier and allowed the following Cannon Shells to pass through.
The Burnstone Warheads had been fired in multiple stages.
A sufficient amount to saturate the Magic Barrier was set at 60 rounds in 5 salvos, but in reality, three times that amount, 180 rounds in 15 salvos, were used.
This was simply because three times the assumed combat strength was prepared, based on the idea that they should hit with sufficient margin.
The next stage of Burnstone Warheads, which had passed through the Barrier deployed in the air, rained down on ＜The Reflector＞ as is.
And these also functioned as expected.
The Magic (Fantasy) effect of Burnstone, the ultra-high temperature emitted, saturated ＜The Reflector＞’s Magic Barrier in the blink of an eye.
However, later analysis revealed how threatening the Magic Barrier was, even though it had blocked the Saturation Bombardment of Burnstone Warheads for even a moment.
Immediately after that, the Depleted Uranium Warheads collided with the giant body that had lost its Barrier.
The surface skin, scorched by the heat emitted by the Burnstone, had lost its Magic (Fantasy) toughness.
The kinetic energy of the Depleted Uranium Warheads was unleashed at the point of impact.
Just as ＜The Reflector＞’s body seemed to shine white, a visible shockwave spread out.
But, undeterred, subsequent cannon shells continued to strike.
A meteor fall lasting approximately 10 seconds.
The surroundings were completely obscured by the billowing earth and sand.
The battle against an absurdly huge monster has begun.
What will the result be…? (Irresponsible hype)
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