“Commander. May I dispatch a rotorcraft to recover the worm’s head?”
“Hmm. Yes, that should be fine. But did 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 include a microwave power reception system. It’s more redundant than a dedicated design, but it will suffice as a stopgap.”
The battery-powered aircraft is equipped with a large battery and charger.
Normally, it’s charged by connecting the charger to a power supply, but by directly connecting a microwave power reception system to this, it was modified to allow charging even during flight. Since the original was a cargo plane, there was plenty of space for installation.
Although it’s inferior in output compared to a microwave power reception type, it’s practical enough for limited use until a dedicated design aircraft can be manufactured.
“Okay, then that’s fine. Let’s move the delegation quickly. Also, dispatch a reconnaissance aircraft to the sky. I don’t think that worm will move immediately… but surveillance is necessary, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I will arrange that.”
At ＜The Tree＞ and the Second Fortress, aircraft equipped with microwave power reception systems are currently being produced at a rapid pace.
The Second Fortress is mainly increasing the production of heavy machinery for resource mining, while ＜The Tree＞ is increasing the production of weapons. There are many things to manufacture, and they were still struggling with a shortage of resources.
However, there’s no problem preparing weapons-related equipment to escort the delegation.
＜Ringo＞ responded to Commander (Eve)’s wishes by dispatching a high-altitude surveillance drone and, incidentally, launching 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 attack directly 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-legs wouldn’t be able to do anything, but we can launch an airstrike from here.”
The bunker buster stored at ＜The Tree＞ is one of the weapons manufactured during the game era for the release of some kind of tree. It wouldn’t have yielded much resources even if dismantled, so it was left as is.
It’s a ground-guided missile that is dropped from an altitude of about 10,000m and originally uses GPS for precision bombing. The catalog states that it can penetrate up to 100m underground by accelerating with a rocket booster before impact. The penetration depth can also be changed by adjusting the rocket’s burn time.
The current ＜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 reception system. Let’s load it with bombs and send it to the site. We’ll also launch an SR-1 (Albatross) from the Second Fortress for escort. It will be able to 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, it was 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 their standby positions.
The multi-legged ground mother ship deployed its catapult and launched escort aircraft. Additional wide-area surveillance drones were added, and ground attack drones were also deployed. Small multi-legged reconnaissance aircraft were also sent out to ensure the safety of the route.
The carriages held by the work arms were lowered to the ground, and the drivers were urged to connect the horses. The luggage inside the carriages was mostly safe because there were no sudden movements.
The four guards who joined up would be riding along today. Water and fodder were unloaded from the ground mother ship and fed to the horses while there was time.
The main work was done by the puppet machine (communicator), which had not had a chance to do anything until now.
“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 aircraft, but it’s difficult to detect underground. If there’s 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 even 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 ones passing by are humans.”
“Yes, Ma’am. It’s a highway, and if that big guy is always there, it wouldn’t work as a road. Considering the worm’s mobility, I don’t think they can escape.”
In that case, it seems to have moved from somewhere. If it can maintain that speed underground, its range of activity should be quite wide.
It may be constantly patrolling a wide territory and attacking when prey comes.
“We’ll have a sample, so we can investigate in detail. 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 pieces.”
If possible, I would also like to get the crystal. Currently, we only have a sample from ＜Rain Crowin＞, and if it is removed, the whole body will collapse, so it is left as is for observation.
I want to approach it a little more, so I would welcome more samples.
“Speaking of which, several types of monsters have been confirmed in the Afracia United Kingdom, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. There seem to be several types, including herbivores and carnivores. However, they all seem to be located further inland or in areas closer to forests. 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 destination, East Gate City, 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 Afracia United Kingdom exists, we should collect information about monsters. I honestly don’t understand magic either, so I want to investigate it.
“In about 10 days, we will be able to get close to East Gate City. There seems to be a town called Flatara City on the way, so we may be able to gather some information.”
“Ah… a town on the way. Is it safe to stop by?”
“Agriteend Luvânia, the head of the delegation, said he would send out scouts. Honestly, the security situation will be a matter of luck. As far as I can tell from reconnaissance from the sky, there doesn’t seem to be any war going on.”
“Scouts, huh…? Should we give them an escort?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Let’s attach a small multi-legged attack aircraft and a puppet machine (communicator). Drones would be too conspicuous, so it’s better to stop that.”
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.
With two fully armed multi-legged tanks and one ground mother ship as escorts, she had not anticipated any problems at all.
However, before even half of the journey was completed, they were suddenly in danger of being annihilated. Although the possibility was low, if they had been attacked from directly below while camping without noticing the approach of that worm, 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, probably.”
“Yes, Ma’am. There are too many unexpected problems, and if we respond incorrectly, fatal problems could occur. We should refrain from 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＞.
“Commander. 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 Kroin＞ is the only marine creature with characteristics of a monster 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 a resident of a sci-fi world, living in a fantasy world was this difficult.