“Ma’am. May I dispatch a rotorcraft to recover the Worm’s head?”
“Hmm. Yes, that should be fine. But do we have a microwave-compatible aircraft?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The base is a battery-powered aircraft, but we’ve partially modified the cargo space to install a microwave power receiving system. It’s more redundant than a dedicated design, but it can be used as a stopgap.”
Battery-powered aircraft are equipped with large batteries and chargers.
Normally, they are charged by connecting the charger to a power supply, but by directly connecting a microwave power receiving system to this, it was modified to allow charging even during flight. Since the original was a cargo plane, sufficient installation space was secured.
Although it is inferior in output to the microwave power receiving type, it can withstand practical use as long as it is for limited purposes until a dedicated design aircraft can be manufactured.
“Okay, then that’s fine. Let’s move the delegation quickly. Also, dispatch a reconnaissance plane to the sky. I don’t think that Worm will move immediately… but surveillance is necessary, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I will arrange it accordingly.”
At ＜The Tree＞ and Fortress Two, aircraft equipped with microwave power receiving systems are currently being produced at a rapid pace.
Fortress Two is mainly increasing the production of heavy machinery for resource mining, and ＜The Tree＞ is increasing the production of weapons. There were many things to manufacture, and she was still troubled by the lack of resources.
However, there is no problem if it is only to prepare weapons-related equipment to escort the delegation.
＜Ringo＞ responded to Commander (Eve)’s wishes and decided to dispatch a high-altitude surveillance drone and, incidentally, launch a ground attack aircraft from ＜The Tree＞.
“After recovering the Worm’s head, let’s attack the main body underground. If it’s 30m underground, we can directly attack with a Bunker Buster. From the previous combat data, the Worm’s defense is not expected to be that high. Our existing bombs should be able to inflict sufficient damage.”
“Oh, I see. I thought the local Multi-legged Tanks couldn’t do anything about it, but we can carry out an airstrike from here.”
The Bunker Buster stored in ＜The Tree＞ is one of the weapons manufactured during the game era to unlock a certain tree. It wouldn’t become a significant resource even if dismantled, so it was left as it was.
It is a ground-guided missile that is dropped from an altitude of about 10,000m and originally performs precision bombing using GPS. The catalog states that it can penetrate up to 100m underground by accelerating with a rocket booster before entering. The penetration depth can also be changed by adjusting the rocket’s burn time.
Currently, ＜The Tree＞ cannot support GPS, but since external operation is possible, it was decided to control it directly from the sky and attack the Worm.
“One flying boat has already been modified to be equipped with a microwave power receiving system. Let’s equip this with bombs and send it to the site. We will also launch an SR-1 (Albatross) from Fortress Two for escort. It can reach the attack position in 4 hours.”
“Understood. In the meantime, let’s evacuate the delegation. Will the horses be okay?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The carriage horses seem a little frightened, but they should be able to move. In 4 hours, they can move more than 50km away.”
So, we decided to move them immediately.
The Multi-legged Tanks, which had been waiting in a state of alert, were switched to cruising mode. Specifically, the extended Legs were folded and the deployed armaments were returned to the standby position.
The Multi-legged Ground Carrier deployed the catapult and launched the escort aircraft. Additional Wide-Area Surveillance Drones were added, and ground attack drones were also deployed. Small Multi-legged Reconnaissance Vehicles were also dispatched to ensure the safety of the route.
The carriages held by the work arms were lowered to the ground, and the coachmen were urged to connect the horses. The luggage inside the carriages was probably mostly safe because there were no sudden movements.
The four guards who joined us will continue to ride on horseback today. In the meantime, water and fodder were unloaded from the Ground Carrier and fed to the horses.
The main work is done by the Doll Machine (Communicator), which had no chance to show its worth.
“Even so, it’s not going to be easy…”
“Yes, Ma’am. If it’s on the ground or in the air, we can detect it in advance with reconnaissance planes, but it’s difficult to detect underground. If there is noise when moving, we can still notice it, but if it’s that quiet, detection is impossible.”
The reason why that Worm attacked the delegation is unknown in the first place. Is it still looking for meat? I can’t imagine how much food it would take to maintain such a huge body.
In the first place, the biota in the surrounding area is very sparse. How is it living in this environment?
“Waiting for prey to pass by underground? But there are no forests around, and the only things that pass by are humans.”
“Yes, Ma’am. It’s a highway, and if that big guy is always there, it won’t work as a road. Considering the Worm’s mobility, I don’t think it can escape.”
In that case, it seems that it moved from somewhere. If it can maintain that movement speed underground, its range of activity should be quite wide.
It may be constantly patrolling a wide territory and attacking when prey comes.
“We can investigate in detail because we can get a sample. It’s a little short, so I’d like the whole body if possible.”
“Even if we get the whole body of that size, we won’t be able to bring it back…”
“We have no choice but to dismantle it and transport it in separate parts.”
If possible, I would also like to get the crystal. Currently, there is only a sample from ＜Rain Croin＞, and if it is removed, the whole body will collapse, so it is left as it is for the purpose of observation.
I want to approach it a little more, so I would welcome more samples.
“Speaking of which, are there several types of Monsters confirmed in the Afrasia United Kingdom?”
“Yes, Ma’am. There seem to be several types of Monsters living there, including herbivores and carnivores. However, they all seem to be in the more inland or forest areas. In this area, the Worm is the only sighting.”
“Forest area… like on the Forest Country (Lebresta) side?”
“Yes, Ma’am. There seem to be quite a few around the East Gate city, which is our destination, so it would be nice to capture them while we’re at it.”
If we are going to continue to operate in the Northern Continent where the Afrasia United Kingdom exists, we should collect information about Monsters. I also want to investigate magic, because I honestly don’t understand it well.
“In about 10 days, we will be able to get close to the East Gate city. There seems to be a town called Flattala City on the way, so we may be able to collect some information.”
“Ah… a town on the way. Is it okay to stop by?”
“Agritend Ruvannia, the head of the delegation, said that he would send out scouts. Honestly, the security situation will be a matter of luck. As far as I can tell from aerial reconnaissance, no war has broken out.”
“Scouts, huh…? Should we give them an escort?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Let’s attach a small Multi-legged Attack Aircraft and a Doll Machine (Communicator). Drones are too conspicuous, so it’s better to stop.”
To be honest.
She thought that the delegation’s journey would end without any problems. The enemies she had anticipated were bandits or small Monsters.
She had no idea that a problem would occur with two fully armed Multi-legged Tanks and one Ground Carrier as escorts.
However, before they had even reached half of their journey, they were suddenly in danger of being annihilated. Although the possibility was low, if they had not noticed the approach of that Worm and had been attacked from directly below while camping, the delegation would probably have been destroyed.
“Hmm… I can’t take my eyes off them. It was the right decision to complete the microwave power transmission system. I had also planned to refuel with a transport plane, but that would have limited our actions too much and we wouldn’t have been able to cope.”
“Yes, Ma’am. There are too many unexpected problems, and if we make a mistake in responding, it could lead to fatal problems. We should refrain from taking aggressive actions until we are fully prepared.”
“If the offshore platform is operational, the resource balance will improve dramatically…”
Commander (Eve) muttered and sighed. In her hand, she was displaying a graph of the resource trends of ＜The Tree＞.
“Ma’am. Regarding the Deep Sea, I am concerned about the threat of Monsters. In particular, deep-sea creatures tend to be gigantic.”
“…Ah… Yes, that’s right… It’s not like there are no Monsters in the sea… Why didn’t I think of that…”
“Currently, ＜Rain Croin＞ is the only marine creature with characteristics of Monsters that has been confirmed. However, the seas of this planet are far too vast, so we cannot rule out the possibility of others existing.”
For inhabitants of a science fiction world, living in a fantasy world was this difficult.